


Magi Diary

by ohfortheloveofsinbad



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, 未来日記 | Mirai Nikki | Future Diary
Genre: Blood, Death, Explicit Language, F/M, Get ready for some SinJa with Yandere Ja'far bros, M/M, Nonconsensual kissing, Sex, Sharryamu, implied rape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-03 22:26:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 21,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10976622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohfortheloveofsinbad/pseuds/ohfortheloveofsinbad
Summary: Magi/The Future Diary crossover fic. Sinbad yearns for some adventure to spice up his boring high school life, but the adventure he receives isn't quite what he was expecting.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Prepare yourselves for a wild ride. I'm changing up the scenes to fit the characters, so if you're scared this is just going to be the novel version of The Future Diary with some names switched, don't be. I promise it's going to be much more complex than that.

_“He’s dead… There’s no way to bring him back. The power he used was too much for his body to stand.”_

_The young man before the speaker began looked up with tearful eyes. “I… I can’t live without him… I need him,” he sobbed._

_The other looked down at him sympathetically. “Well… Even if you can’t bring this one back, I suppose there’s another option.”_

_“I’ll do it! Anything!”_

_“Very well.”_

_A staff was lifted, and the room they once occupied disintegrated before their very eyes in a flash of blinding light. As all fell dark, the one with the staff gestured to a path for the grieving man to take._

_“This will show you a new world in which you can live happily with your beloved.”_

_The man with tear-streaked face shakily stood. He slowly walked forward. He looked back to his savior with uncertainty._

_The magician smiled and extended his hand for the other to take. “Allow me to guide you.”_


	2. A Yearning for Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sinbad lives a life with no adventure. He has no passion for life anymore and wants something big to happen, but he supposes that his dream for excitement isn't one that will come true.

_Life is boring. There’s no adventure, no excitement, and no point._

Sinbad sighed quietly as he listened to the teacher drone on about the importance of language in everyone’s lives. English was perhaps the most boring subject he could have possibly been forced to take. He’d mastered it as a child under the strict teachings of his mother, who was an English major. She was the one who tutored him on ever subject he had difficulties with. His father, on the other hand, never managed to help him with much. He was normally too busy drinking or working to pay any mind to his son’s schoolwork.

None of that mattered anymore, though. His parents had divorced almost five years ago due to his father’s unfaithfulness. His mother, Esra, had to quit her job as an English professor in order to find a job that would provide enough money for her and Sinbad to live on on their own, and his father… Well, who cared?

His mother was only ever a home a small percentage of the time, perhaps one week out of the month at the very most. She had found a job that required her to travel frequently, which meant that Sinbad was left alone at home for the majority of his days.

With his mother gone, Sinbad had little to do. He used to be almost overly popular, with many friends and teachers who adored him, but as loneliness and depression set in, his grades began to slip, he began to lose his friends, and his popularity dwindled until he became nothing more than a wallflower.

He wanted something, anything to make his life as exciting as it once was. He desired a new passion for life. He craved adventure, but, alas, those things seemed to be far off.

Sinbad checked his phone. Only two minutes left until the end of the school day.

The teacher had finished talking while he had been lost in his thoughts, and it seemed that the rest of the class was in a quiet study hall until the bell rang.

Sinbad opened an app in his phone and began to type.

_15:28 [Homeroom]_

_Lesson on the importance of language_

There. That made him feel a little better. It was nice to have recordings of his day nearby, even if they didn’t hold any real importance. It made him feel grounded. It made him feel as though he had a sense of purpose.

He’d started keeping the journal after the divorce. Once his parents split up, it felt as though all of his dreams had been demolished. The simple electronic diary gave him something to do to get him through his day.

Sinbad slipped his phone into his pocket and began to put his things into his backpack in a slow, organized manner until he was finally released from the metaphorical chains that school burdened him down with by the sweet, angelic sound of the bell.

With a relieved smile, Sinbad stood up, slipped his bag onto his shoulders, and walked out of the school with his head down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is something that's actually going to be super easy for me to keep up with, since it already has a structure and a plot that I can follow with ease (unlike my own outlines), so I think I'll start posting new chapters regularly once I get a little further into it.


	3. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Sinbad sleeps, he is whisked away to the world of his dreams, where he speaks to God himself. What he doesn't realize is that God has something in store for him. Is this really just his imagination?

“What’s on the schedule today, Deus?” Sinbad asked in a bored tone as he rested on his bed with his hands behind his head.

The young man had come home from school to an empty house, as usual. He had checked his calendar to see that his mother wouldn’t be home until Wednesday of next week.

He’d figured he would clean the house and make dinner for her so that she could relax after working so hard, but he was in no rush. He still had a few days until she returned.

Instead of doing his homework, he went straight to his room and laid down on his bed, as he tended to do after school. He liked to take long naps just to make time pass. Nothing in his house interested him anymore. Sleeping was far better than sitting in an empty home with nothing to do.

Recently, he’d also learned to enjoy sleeping more often, for when he did, he was transported to a magical world in his dreams where he was friends with God himself. It was there he learned that God had a name, and that name was Deus Ex Machina.

He and Sinbad had managed to get themselves on such good terms that he allowed Sinbad to call him the nickname of “Deus.”

How the young man’s simple, human mind had managed to create something so complex, and with a name he’d never even heard of before, he’d never know. The only thing Sinbad cared about was the excitement that speaking to an ethereal being brought him.

 _“I am adjusting the laws of cause and effect,”_ the god said as he waved his hands about, which moved holographic screens around the room. He always seemed to manipulate everything with such ease.

“It sounds like you’re planning something,” Sinbad said with a smirk.

 _“Indeed. The world needs a jolt every now and then, don’t you agree?”_ Deus asked.

Sinbad’s smile fell. “Don’t tell me it’s a war.”

Deus shook his head. _“No, nothing like that,”_ he claimed. _“What I have in store is but a simple game; one that I want you to play.”_

“A game?” Sinbad asked.

_“Yes. You will understand soon enough what I mean.”_

A small boy began to crawl onto Sinbad’s bed with a slice of watermelon in his hands. “You shouldn’t bother Deus so much, y’know,” he said. He took a bite of his watermelon and continued to talk with his mouth full. “He’s really busy!”

Sinbad sighed. “I don’t choose to come here. I end up here on my own,” he said.

Aladdin swallowed and spit out his seeds in a stream at Sinbad’s face.

“Don’t do that,” Sinbad huffed. “You’ll get my bed dirty.”

“What, this?” Aladdin asked, then did the same thing again.

Sinbad growled. He was about ready to choke this child.

 _  
“That is enough for now. I will return you to your home,”_ Deus stated.

With a wave of his hand, Sinbad was in his own bedroom once again.

 _“Are you lonely?”_ rang Deus’ voice in his ears.

“…”

_“If you could change that, would you?”_

“Perhaps I would,” Sinbad mumbled.

_“I could give you that chance.”_

“I’m sure,” Sinbad said. Imaginations truly were powerful.

The sound of laughter filled his ears. _“Enjoy my gift to you, Sinbad. I’m sure you will find it useful.”_

Though Sinbad tried several times to ask what he meant, Deus was gone.


	4. Murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look through the eyes of a shady, impatient character with something odd on his mind.

_“No, NO! Please don’t!” A woman begged as she scrambled away from a man with a bloody knife. She had just witnessed the murder of a coworker, and the one who had killed him was now after her._

_She ran down an alleyway to the nearest door and tried to open it. She had to get away. Escape was he only thing on her mind, but, alas, the door was locked._

_The woman began to cry as she beat furiously on the door. “Help me! Help me, please!” she cried as loudly as she could. “SOMEBODY!”_

_In her efforts to get inside, she hadn’t noticed the murder had gained on her._

_Her screams were cut off the moment the man dragged a sharp knife across her throat, and she laid there on the ground, choking on her own blood as she continued to try to get someone’s attention, until she died._

_The murderer slid his bloody knife into a sheath, then tossed his vibrant red locks over his shoulder before he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone._

_His eyebrows knitted together in frustration as he saw no change in the app he had open. He “T’ch”ed, then kicked the body at his feet in anger._

_“So, not this one either, huh?” were the last and only words that were uttered from his mouth before he stalked away into the darkness of the night, covered in blood._


	5. It Tells the Future?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sinbad wakes to find that his phone is doing something strange.

Sinbad woke to his alarm, as he did every morning. He took his phone off the charger and was surprised to see on the screen that there were two new messages.

Did his mother text him while he was asleep?

Sinbad opened his phone to see that they weren’t from his mother, but from himself.

 _Did I sleep-text or something?_ Sinbad wondered as he looked through the messages.

_6:59 [My Room]_

_Hit double bullseye. Lucky day ahead_

_7:05 [Kitchen]_

_Saw TV news about a recent murder case. Crime scene is nearby. Rumor has it the killer is hiding near my high school_

Sinbad checked the dates for the texts only to end up confused. _That’s today’s date… How could that be?_

The young man shrugged and pocketed his phone. He picked up a dart and threw it at the wall, where it hit the exact center of the board.

_Double bullseye._

Well, that was an odd coincidence. Sinbad figured it would be best not to mull over it, or he might be late for school.

He made his way out of his room and downstairs to the kitchen, where he poured himself a bowl of cereal, then turned on the television to watch the news, as he did every morning.

As he ate, he heard something disturbing.

_“The murder case from yesterday now has a new lead. Two new bodies have been found by passerby citizens this morning. Police are investigating at this moment. They claim to have no idea who the killer might be at this time, but they are searching. The murder occurred at Sakurami Street, as the previous one had, and was believed to have been taken place at three this morning. One of the victims was found a block away from the other, giving the police the idea that she must have attempted to run away, but to no avail._

_“The killer is believed to have escaped through a series of back alleyways, and is estimated to be hiding out somewhere near the high school. Due to this, the police have enforced higher security around the area, and-“_

The reporter’s voice faded away to indistinguishable murmurs as Sinbad stared in shock at his cellphone.

This had to be a coincidence, right? This just had to be a strange series of coincidences. There was no way this was real.

Sinbad shut the T.V. off and finished his cereal, then washed his bowl in the sink. He picked up his bag and slipped on his shoes, then stared at his phone as he walked to school.

_7:45 [Route to School]_

_Rare encounter with the track team_

Sinbad looked around at all of the high school students around him to see the boys in track uniforms walking up the road to the school.

 _Didn’t they have practice this morning?_ Sinbad thought nervously. He put together a reason for why they might be there quickly. _Perhaps it’s because of the murders. Maybe they just won’t be holding any outdoor activities today in order to keep the students safe._

Sinbad gulped. Just what else did his phone say?

_9:30 [Class 2-B]_

_Pop Quiz in math_

The entry was followed by a string of mathematical equations which were organized in an easy-to-read format.

When Sinbad arrived at school, he couldn’t stop staring at his phone. He couldn’t focus on his classes until Math finally came around, and once there, he was greeted with nothing other than a Pop Quiz.

It was only then that Sinbad began to believe that these entries were the real deal.

On the sheet, he jotted down the answers he had on his phone, then spent the rest of the class wondering if they were right.

Time, for once, seemed to go quickly as he waited through the study hall for the teacher to grade the tests.

Once he received the slip of paper, he knew for sure that the diary he had actually told the future; all of the answers were correct.

He went through his day not knowing how to feel about his future-telling diary. What all could it be used for? How long would it last? How was this even happening?

At lunch, his phone buzzed, but he was unable to check it before one of his former friends sat on the desk next to him and kicked his desk to the side with a menacing grin.

“So, how did you do on the test, _Sin?”_ he asked in a taunting voice. The way he spoke to him ignited a feeling that he hadn’t felt in a good, long while: anger.

“Better than you, Barbarossa,” Sinbad huffed. What kind of name was that, anyway? He understood that the guy was from royal lineage, but his parents really should have tried to name him better.

He had been kicked out of several private schools due to bad behavior and was moved into the public schooling system as a way of forcing him to behave. According to him, his parents had threatened to homeschool him if he got expelled one more time.

But, just because he hadn’t been expelled from this school yet didn’t make him a good student. Barbarossa preferred being an athlete over being a student, and outright refused to participate in class.

Somehow, though, he still managed to obtain some fairly average grades. He was held just a place above Sinbad in the student records. Sin would see to it that that would change.

Barbarossa sneered at Sinbad. “Don’t think that because you aced this test you’re any better than me. You turned into a loser when your parents split, remember?” he jabbed. “Once a loser, always a loser. You’d do best to remember that.”

Sinbad angrily clenched his fist as Barbarossa laughed. He stood up from the desk and left the room with a triumphant grin on his face.

Irritably, Sinbad set his desk straight and checked his phone.

_12:32 [Class 2-B]_

_Barbarossa gives me a hard time_

Sinbad sighed. If only he’d checked his phone a bit sooner, he could have avoided the confrontation.

He made a mental note to check his phone more often, then finished his lunch and went throughout the rest of the school day as normal.


	6. Dead End?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sinbad learns more about his diary and decides to use it to its full extent while he still has it, but it seems as though someone has caught on to what he's doing. Now the diary has something new to say, and it definitely isn't good.

“Is this phone what you meant when you said you had given me a gift?” Sinbad asked, holding his phone out for Deus to see.

 _“Indeed,”_ Deus said.

“Why does this work?” Sinbad asked. “I thought you were just a part of my imagination. Have I gone crazy?”

Deus chuckled. _“I think you might be crazy to believe that this place is only your imagination.”_

Sinbad’s eyes widened. “Wait, you’re _real?!”_

_“Indeed.”_

“B-But, if you’re real, why would you choose to live in _my_ dreams?” Sinbad asked.

 _“I believe that a better question to ask would be “Why not?” “_ Deus said.

“He’s a god! He can live anywhere he wants in as many paces as he wants!” Aladdin giggled from Sinbad’s side.

 _“Onto more important matters,”_ Deus said with a wave of his hand. _“The gift I’ve given you holds your future.”_

“Well… I kinda figured that out on my own,” Sinbad said.

Deus gave him a look, then continued. _“It’s what’s known as the indiscriminate diary. It will foretell your future to you for the next ninety days. You must protect that cell phone at all costs, for if it gets damaged, your future will cease to exist.”_

“Wait…” Sinbad said. “Does that mean-?”

 _“Yes,”_ Deus informed. _“In other words, it means that you will die.”_

The words echoed in Sinbad’s mind as the world disappeared from under his feet, and the next thing he knew, he was back in his room, resting on his bed as he was before.

Sinbad stared at his phone, which rested, charging, on his nightstand.

_This records everything that will happen for the next ninety days… Yet I can only see what will happen for the next couple of hours. I could use this to find a way to become something great, but the moment I lose it, all I made for myself will disappear as well, wouldn’t it?_

Sinbad sighed. He figured that it would be best to make a name for himself while he still had the time. It would be better to be great for at least a day and then return to normal than to never be great at all, he figured.

And so, he utilized his diary to the extent of his power. His grades began to soar, and he became the top of his class, therefore regaining his status as the favorite with his teachers, though his popularity with the students seemed to plummet.

They seemed to hate him more and more as he continued to think of himself as high and mighty due to his superior grades, but Sinbad didn’t seem to mind.

The best course of action was obvious. If he used his diary to improve his grades, then maybe he could get into a great college on a scholarship and then later make a name for himself on his own.

Sinbad became smug as he went about with raising his grades. It seemed nothing could go wrong…

Until he was given a look by the student who had been the former top of the class, Ja’far.

The boy came from a poor, yet extremely strict family. He had near-perfect grades, and had ended up only a point below Sinbad once the ranks were shown to everyone. He prioritized cleanliness over everything, and that was proven through the furious, dedicated way he would clean the school when it was his turn to help. Plus, he was pretty cute, with an almost girlish charm to him, with those large, grey eyes, bleached hair, and petite little nose with a small spray of freckles spread across it. He was the school’s idol, and was often used as an example to other students. His modesty, however, caused him to blush and turn the example he was used as into gentle encouragement to the other students.

He also had a killer smile. There were rumors in the school that he was gay, and Sinbad, as a bisexual man himself, prayed to Deus that they were true.

But… once that look came his way, Sinbad feared that he had lost any and all chances he might have had with the guy.

Sure, the look had been a simple, toothless smile, but it could have had so many different meanings that Sinbad decided on the one that came first to his mind.

He had smiled at him in a way that he knew that he was cheating.

Sinbad gulped and returned his eyes to his own paper.

Ja’far began to fiddle with a moldable eraser from his own spot.

The teacher, who had been walking around the classroom to watch the students’ progress stopped next to him. “Ja’far?” he asked quietly in hopes to keep the disturbance in the class minor.

“It’s just something to keep my hands occupied while I think,” Ja’far promised.

The teacher looked uncertain, but allowed him to continue using it. “If it proves to be too much of a distraction, I’ll have to confiscate it.”

“I understand,” Ja’far said with a pleasant smile, and the teacher continued his rounds.

At the end of the class, Sinbad waited for all the others to leave before he got up from his seat. He was left with cleaning duty, so he had good reason wait, anyway. He spent several hours cleaning, as it was his turn to do so.

He had decided to clean his homeroom last, and left. He came back several hours later to finally finish his work.

He made his way to the front of the class in order to start there, but saw something on the side of the desk Ja’far had been sitting at. He narrowed his eyes and approached it. If Ja’far had left his eraser, he would have to return it to him as soon as possible. Maybe that would earn him some favor in the boy’s eyes.

As Sinbad drew closer, however, he came to learn that the eraser had been left there on purpose, for it had been melded in a specific shape that only Sinbad would understand.

It was a tiny figure of Aladdin.

 _But how? Aren’t I supposed to be the only one with a diary? How does she know about Aladdin?!_ Sinbad thought fearfully as he stared at the eraser.

His phone began to make a strange noise, so Sinbad pulled it out and looked at the new entry it had created.

_18:21 [Inside A Building]_

_Chased by a serial killer and was killed_

_DEAD END_

Sinbad stared at his phone in disbelief. Killed? Dead end?! This had to be a joke, right?!

His heart jumped to his throat as the door behind him slid open, and in walked Ja’far, holding an open flip phone to his chin and with a smile on his face that matched the one he had given Sinbad earlier that day.


	7. Another Diary User?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sinbad's luck seems to have run out as he finds himself face-to-face with another diary user who he believes is out to kill him. He soon finds out that he was wrong, but learns something just as disturbing about his new friend.

“It seems your future is soon to be no more,” Ja’far said. His smile quickly became more pleasant, and he tipped his head like a puppy would. “That’s what your diary says, right?”

Sinbad gulped and stepped back a few paces. This couldn’t be real. How did Ja’far know about his diary? This wasn’t something that should happen!

Sinbad took another step back, then darted out the open door at the front of the classroom. He ignored Ja’far’s cry of “Wait!” without regret, and quickly made his way out of the school.

His diary made a noise again, and he checked his phone at once.

_18:09 [Street]_

_It’s no good. Can’t seem to get away from him_

_18:13 {Street]_

_There’s a building under construction nearby. Better hide in there. Seem to have lost him_

_18:15 [Inside Building]_

_Got on the elevator_

Sinbad looked around for the building mentioned in the texts and saw it about a block away.

Ja’far suddenly popped out in front of him at the end of the school building with a smile. “There we are. You can’t escape from me, Sin,” he said.

“How did you get in front of me?!” Sinbad exclaimed. The kid must have jumped out of the building or something! He was crazy!

Sinbad ran away from Ja’far and toward the building he had seen earlier. That was about the only time he had been thankful he used to be in track.

He made it to the building and closed the door behind him. He didn’t see Ja’far, which he supposed was good. He caught his breath, then jogged to the elevator and got inside.

Sinbad didn’t know where he was going with this. In the back of his mind, he knew he’d be trapped with nowhere to run if he went to a higher floor, but he pressed a button to go to a higher floor anyway.

Just as the doors were about to close all the way, two pale arms jammed themselves between the small gap and pried them back open again.

Ja’far stepped inside the lift nonchalantly and stopped mere inches away from Sinbad with a sickly smile on his face. “Haven’t you realized it yet, Sin?” he asked. “You can’t run from me.”

Sinbad backed himself into a corner. “You’re…” he gulped. “You’re another diary owner…”

Ja’far’s smile grew toothy in praise as he pulled out a green flip phone from his pocket and showed it to Sinbad. “That is correct.” he said. He stepped closer to Sinbad until he was close enough to feel his breath.

 _He’s going to kill me. Oh, god, he’s going to kill me!_ Sinbad thought in a panic. His heart was racing again, and he frantically reached for his pocket. _My darts. I can use my darts!_

Ja’far stopped him with a gentle, yet firm hand on his wrist. “You wouldn’t stab me,” he said softly. He stood on his toes and gently pressed his lips to Sinbad’s, leaving the young man in a state of shock, even when he pulled away.

Ja’far smiled up at him again with a slight blush. “See? You didn’t stab me,” he said. He lifted up his phone once again. “And I know you won’t try again because it says so right here in the future.”

Sinbad’s tongue darted across his lips. He’d really just been kissed. He’d been kissed by his crush, even after he had been so rude to him.

Ja’far’s eyes took on a snake-like appearance as he looked out the glass pane of the elevator to the street outside. “You haven’t been paying attention to your phone,” he said. “He’s here.”

Sinbad cast his gaze to where Ja’far had been looking and saw a short man with long, bright-red hair standing outside, staring at them with excited, bloodthirsty eyes and a psychotic grin.

Sinbad quickly checked his phone to see if there really was a new entry.

_18:20 [Inside A Building]_

_Killed on the 14 th floor_

_DEAD END_

“That man down there is the Third,” Ja’far explained. “He’s another diary user, and he had his sights on you. Good thing I came to save you, right, Sin?”

“How… How did you know all of this was going to happen?” Sinbad asked, feeling done.

Ja’far blushed. “Ah… Well, you see… That’s…. Because of my own diary…” he said nervously. He opened his phone and showed it to Sinbad whilst he looked away shyly.

The young man read through the entries one by one.

_17:10_

_Today is Sinbad’s turn to do the cleaning._

_17:20_

_Sinbad went to the staff room to return the keys._

_17:30_

_Sinbad got tripped by some mean boys while in the gym. Teach them all a lesson later._

_17:40_

_Sinbad realized he left his guitar in the music room._

_17:50_

_Sinbad returned with his guitar. He’s so forgetful!_

_18:00_

_Sinbad is shocked to see the gift I left him._

_18:10_

_Sinbad runs away from me while I’m trying to help him. Does he think I’m the killer? I need to save him!_

The young man couldn’t read any more. It seemed as though his crush had a small obsession with him. What a stalker! “Why are they all about me?!” he asked.

Ja’far closed his phone and fidgeted nervously. “It’s… because my diary is known as the Sinbad Diary,” he said after a moment. “It updates me on where you are and how you’re doing every ten minutes.”

Sinbad shook his head. “Don’t you think that’s a little odd?” he asked.

Ja’far pressed his lips together. “We can talk about this later,” he said. He pressed and held the button to the nineteenth floor once the doors to the fourteenth floor had closed. “Wouldn’t you rather be safe first?”

Well, he had a point that Sinbad couldn’t argue with.


	8. Am I a Murderer?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ja'far devises a plan to get Sinbad and himself away from The Third.

The elevator had taken both Sinbad and Ja’far up to the roof.

Ja’far walked out and stretched. “Doesn’t it feel better to be in an open space?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’ll be nice to watch the clouds float by as we’re killed,” Sinbad said sourly.

“Don’t pout,” Ja’far said with a small smile. He walked up to Sinbad and reached into his pocket, then placed one of his darts in his hand. “It’s your lucky day, isn't it?”

Sinbad looked down at the dart with uncertainty. He wouldn’t say meeting his stalker and getting chased by a serial killer in the same hour was something very lucky, but hey, who knows? Maybe a flimsy little dart could change that.

“I have an idea, alright?” Ja’far said. “We can use the video cameras on our phones to watch him while he hides. You can watch him from that dip over there, and then you can strike when you see him.”

“And you think that’ll work?” Sinbad asked.

Ja’far shrugged. “We won’t know unless we try, but I believe you can do it,” he encouraged. “And if you miss, I can always just swoop in to save you. Wouldn't you love to have your own knight in shining armor?”

Well. Now Sinbad absolutely _had_ to hit his target. Ja’far didn’t seem to be too smart, even if his grades said differently.

As his father used to say, there’s a difference between book smart and street smart.

“He’ll be coming any minute now,” Ja’far said. “Let’s get into position.”

Sinbad nodded and ran to the dip near the edge of the roof Ja’far had pointed him toward earlier. When he looked back, Ja’far was adjusting his phone with the video camera on.

Sinbad’s phone rang a moment later, and he answered it. What he received instead of Ja’far’s voice was the video feed from his phone.

Once he looked back up, Ja’far was gone, and the elevator doors were opening.

The man he and Ja’far had seen earlier stepped out onto the roof. He held a giant knife in one hand, and his phone in the other.

“Where are they…?” he muttered as he walked around with his eyes glued to the screen.

Sinbad watched his own phone carefully with his head down as he waited for the opportune moment to strike.

The moment he saw the man on the screen, he whipped around and threw his dart as hard as he could.

The phone the murderer held made a loud screeching sound, and he turned in Sinbad’s direction just in time.

The dart hit his phone with enough force to break through the back cover and through the screen.

“Shit!” was the last word to fall from the murderer’s mouth as his body began to stretch and contort in an odd, unnatural way.

His body seemed to become a black hole as a void opened in his chest, then swirled around, getting bigger and bigger until his body was swallowed up, leaving nothing behind except for the dart which Sinbad had thrown.

Sinbad, in a state of shock, walked over to his dart and shakily picked it up. Had he really just killed somebody?

Ja’far seemed to have almost teleported to his side. “That was it?” he asked disappointedly.

_That was it? Was that all he had to say? Someone had just died!_

Ja’far turned to him and smiled. “Well, even if it was disappointing, I guess he’s gone for good,” he said. “Let me walk you home. I don’t want you to get into any more trouble.”

“Ah… right…” Sinbad mumbled.

Ja’far took Sinbad’s hand and led him back to the elevator, then safely home with a pleased smile on his face.


	9. I'll Protect You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sinbad wonders why there are other diary users. He doesn't receive a straight answer.

“Why are there other people with diaries?!” Sinbad asked angrily.

 _“I don’t remember ever saying that you were the only user,”_ Deus replied. _“I believe I told you this was a game. You can’t have a game with only one player, now, can’t you?”_

Sinbad looked away with a growl. Deus had a point.

_“Don’t be angry, Sinbad. The winner gets to be my successor. That is quite the grand prize, don’t you think?”_

“Your successor? What do you mean by that?” Sinbad asked.

 _“You will learn in due time, my friend,”_ Deus promised.

“Don’t worry Sin, I’ll help you win no matter what it takes,” came a voice from behind the young man.

Sinbad turned on his heel at once to see none other than Ja’far behind him with a dark blush on his face and an odd look in his eye.

“I’ll protect you, Sin,” Ja’far said breathlessly. “Even… Even if it costs me my own life.”


	10. The World Against the First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deus Ex Machina finally offers an explanation of the game he's holding and gives a little extra information on the diaries. With new information fresh in everyone's mind, Sinbad is in more danger than ever before.

Sinbad stared at his phone irritably is it vibrated once again. He supposed it was Ja’far, as it had been the last thirty times. He didn’t know how the guy had gotten his number, but he did, and Sinbad was now suffering the consequences.

He checked his phone to see that his newest message was not from Ja’far, but from Deus Ex Machina.

He clicked the text and read it carefully.

_[Deus Ex Machina]_

_To all Future Diary holders,_

_I will be holding a briefing of the survival game you are playing at midnight tonight. You are all expected to attend. Aladdin will be your guide._

Well, at least Sinbad might finally get some answers to the thousands of questions that bounced around in his mind.

Sinbad checked the time. Only two hours until midnight. That wasn’t too long, he supposed… He could just sleep, and he would be transported to the world at the required time.

His phone buzzed again. A new text message from Ja’far.

_[Ja’far]_

_Did you get that text from Deus? Be sure to look nice and find something to cover your face with! You don’t want anyone to know who you are yet._

Sinbad groaned and deleted the message immediately. Perhaps that’s what he should spend his time doing, instead. Ja’far had sent him so many messages that it might just take him until midnight to delete them all.

The messages weren’t even all that important. Most of them were just there to remind him to do menial tasks, such as eat dinner, brush his teeth, take a shower, and change into fresh pajamas before he went to bed.

Some of the messages consisted of things along the lines of “What are you thinking about?” and “Are you sleeping?” The man just didn’t seem to understand what silence meant.

Sinbad was on the brink of just telling him to go away, but something in the very back of his mind nagged at him that such a thing wasn’t smart to do, and he believed it.

Ja’far might be his only ally in the game, and if he lost his only ally, he was as good as dead, so, instead of responding, he set his phone on his nightstand and plugged it into its charger before he turned away to sleep.

* * *

“I thought you would’ve come with Ja’far,” Aladdin said as he led Sinbad down a winding path.

“I’ve been trying to keep my distance,” Sinbad claimed. Ja’far scared him a little. It was only natural he’d try to stay away, right?

Aladdin shrugged. “Well, maybe that’s a good thing. You’d have to kill him in order to win the competition, after all,” he said.

That’s right. Sinbad had nearly forgotten. This competition required more death than he cared for. The incident with Third had almost been too much for him to take. Too many things were happening in one day.

Aladdin led him to a drop-off, then jumped from the edge of the stone with a graceful little flip in midair to the platform where Deus Ex Machina. The gap between the drop-off and the platform had to have been more than fifty feet long. Aladdin truly wasn’t human.

Sinbad tore his gaze from Aladdin to look around the large, open area. Ten other shadowed figures in all shapes and sizes stood in a circle around Deus, and several of them were whispering amongst themselves in an untrustworthy fashion.

 _“It seems you are all here,”_ Deus said. _“Very good. I have darkened your figures so that no one might see any person’s face. Before we begin, I’d like to introduce to you all our newcomer and lead in the competition, First!”_

Sinbad stood tall and tried to put on a brave face as Deus gestured to him. He seemed to have already forgotten that no one could see his features.

 _“First is responsible for narrowing down our competition to only eleven others,”_ Deus explained. _“Thanks to him, The Third, also known as Kouha Ren, is no more.”_

The muttering broke out against the contenders once again.

Deus soon interrupted them. _“Now, with my praising finally out of the way, I shall move on to the real reason I brought you all here,”_ he stated. _“The phones you all hold are known as future diaries, but I’m sure you know this by now. Originally, they were your normal diaries, but now they hold the ability to tell the future for around ninety days.”_

A man raised his hands from a drop off a few spaces away from Sinbad.

 _“Yes, Tenth?”_ Deus asked.

“The diary seems to change on its own every so often. How do you explain this?” the man asked.

 _“What a good observation,”_ Deus praised. _“The future will change depending on how the user acts. For example, say you are walking down a path and your diary alerts you of a rock you are going to trip over. You can choose to keep going forward and trip over the rock, resulting in an injury that might affect your entries then on, or you can choose to avert your path so that you won’t trip over the rock at all._

_“To do this would mean you had averted your previous future, which will result in a new one being made.”_

“Wait a minute!” Sinbad interrupted. “My diary changed without me doing anything!”

 _“That is because this is a survival game,”_ Deus said. _“The actions of others can result in a change to your diary, as well. Quite often, you will see a “Dead End” screen on your phone. This is due to another number targeting you, which should give you an ample enough example as to how your diary works.”_

A high, womanly voice sounded from across the room. “I give to you a question which leads a bit off of the topic,” she said. “So we need to kill off the other characters in order to win this game, but how are we supposed to do so when we don’t know anyone’s faces?”

 _“You will have to rely on the diary to give you that information,”_ Deus said simply.

“This means we have to find out the identities of our opponents,” a small person with a high, childlike voice said.

“But we will be killed if our own identities are revealed,” followed the voice of another, who was most certainly a man.

 _“Once your identities are revealed, your chances of winning this game become much slimmer,”_ Deus agreed. _“Though First was somehow able to survive in what I view as a miraculous turn of events.”_

 _Deus, stop! You’re setting all of the others against me!_ Sinbad thought with panic as the god continued to speak.

_“It makes me think that he might be the most suitable for the position as my successor.”_

Sinbad looked down at the ground anxiously. Not only was he gaining a bad reputation, but he was also receiving praise he didn’t deserve.

All he had done was throw a dart. The one who had devised an entire plan and made his death avoidable was…

He looked to the side to see Ja’far’s figure, which turned its head toward Sinbad, and the young man just knew that other boy was wearing that cute little smile he flashed so often.

Deus’ voice made Sinbad snap his head back toward the giant platform. _“Will you live, or will you die?! Kill before you are killed! To the remaining eleven people, I wish you the best of luck!” he boomed._

The dark figures around the circle teleported away one at a time, but not without one final word in before they left.

None of what they said was encouraging in the least, aside from one of the last to go.

It was that man who made him feel as though he might have a chance, for, instead of hounding on him and making him out to be some great, challenging obstacle, he simply said, “I will protect you.”

Sinbad was the last to be sent back to his room, but the moment he arrived, he began to panic over what fate might bring him.


	11. Another User?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sinbad has some questions for Ja'far, but his questions get put off to be answered later. Now he has someone else to deal with, and she isn't very nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back and edited Ja'far a little because I didn't think I was portraying him right. They weren't huge changes, so you shouldn't have to read back through to see the differences unless you want to.

_Deus wasn’t much help,_ Sinbad thought irritably as he prepared to go to his next class. He had spent all night thinking over what little he had said, but doing so only brought new, more confusing questions to his mind.

He supposed he needed someone to talk to about the whole “game” ordeal, but everyone who was playing wanted to kill him.

That was… Everyone but Ja’far and one of the other players whose number he didn’t know.

God, Sinbad didn’t want to talk to his stalker about his ponderings, but Ja’far was the only one he could trust at that moment.

He stood and cautiously approached the smaller boy. “Hey, uh, Ja’far…”

Ja’far didn’t even look up. “I assume that what you have to say is something important, but can it wait?” he asked. “I need to get to gym class.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess it can,” Sinbad said.

Ja’far finally put his bag on his shoulders and gave Sinbad a smile. “Alright, then,” he said. “Let’s hang out later, and then we can talk all you’d like.”

Sinbad nodded, and Ja’far stepped past him, leaving him all alone in the classroom.

Sinbad’s shoulders slumped. He decided that he should make his way to his next class as well, so he made his way over to the door, only to be stopped by a small woman with light blue hair who wore an overly frilly pink dress.

“Excuse me,” she asked. “Would you be able to point me out to the teacher’s staff room?”

Sinbad backed up a few paces. Was she supposed to be here?

“Or, better yet,” she continued before Sinbad could slip in a word, “Do you happen to know a man by the name of Ren Kouha?”

 _Ren Kouha…_ Sinbad thought. His eyes widened as he remembered who that was. _Third!_

“He was the former gym teacher, wasn’t he?” she asked. “I’ve heard that he was the killer who ravaged the neighborhood.”

What was she getting at? Was she just looking to gossip with anyone she could find?

The woman suddenly donned a knowing grin. “That would mean that that man was the Third, wouldn’t it?” she asked. “He tried to kill the First, but was killed instead. Haven’t you noticed that he’s absent today?”

Sinbad swallowed thickly and began to back up. She knew! She knew about the numbers! She had to know about the diaries, too!

He had to keep his cool. He couldn’t give himself away, or he’d be in a world of danger. She might even kill him! “E-excuse me, miss,” he said shakily. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about… c-could I please j-just go to my next class?”

“You know, I’ve heard some rumors about you, too,” the woman continued. She didn’t pay any mind to what Sinbad had told her. “I heard that you’ve been doing pretty well lately. Your grades skyrocketed a few days ago, am I right?”

“I… I started studying more…” Sinbad said weakly. He had to get away!

A small, breathy laugh slipped past the woman’s soft lips. “Of course, of course…” she said. Her eyes suddenly locked onto what Sinbad held in his right hand. “That’s a nice phone you’ve got. Can I see it?”

“No!” Sinbad shouted before he could stop himself. He quickly backed away from her, but stopped moving after he toppled a desk.

The woman laughed. “Actions speak louder than words,” she said. “This means you’re the First! I’ve finally found you!”

A fire extinguisher flew from the doorway and straight toward the woman, which she dodged with ease.

Ja’far stepped into the room a moment later. “Sinbad!” he cried.

“So your name’s Sinbad, huh?” the woman asked. She hopped over to the window and pulled a trigger button from a bag that was tied to her waist. “My name is Yamuraiha, and I am the Ninth diary user. Enjoy what sweet time you have left, for your death is certain within three hours!”

Ja’far lunged at her in hopes that he could catch her before she escaped, but she jumped out the window before he could even touch her.

The building began to shake as the room next to the one they were in was hit with a violent explosion.

 


	12. MORE EXPLOSIONS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sinbad and Ja'far try to make their way through the school as safely as possible.

“She planted a bomb?!” Sinbad exclaimed.

Screams of fear and pain could be heard from the next room as well as down the hall. Sinbad looked toward the doorway to see the flickering of shadows, as well as several licks of flames.

“Ja’far, there’s a fire! We need to get out of here!” Sinbad said.

“Wait,” Ja’far told him. “She probably planted more than one bomb. We can’t act recklessly.”

Sinbad’s mouth hooked. What were they supposed to do, then?!

He heard Ja’far’s teeth grind together. He looked down at the boy’s hands to see that he was clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles were white. “That bitch!” he heard him growl under his breath. “I’ll kill her!”

Those words struck fear in Sinbad’s heart, for he knew that Ja’far was serious. What he didn’t know was how he could say those words so easily.

But… even if Ja’far scared the hell out of him, he might be the only way for Sinbad to escape.

Sinbad calmed himself through slow breaths before he finally spoke. “Ja’far,” he said.

The boy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “What is it, Sin?” he asked.

Sinbad walked over to him, then pulled him to his chest in a tight hug. “Let’s work together so that we can get out of this, alright?”

A dark blush manifested across Ja’far’s cheeks. His attitude changed almost immediately, and he burrowed his nose into Sinbad’s shoulder. “Yeah…” he mumbled, his words muffled.

They separated quickly once they heard another explosion from down the hall.

“We really need to get out of here,” Sinbad said.

Ja’far nodded. He thought for a moment, then smiled. “I have an idea,” he said. He walked over to the fire extinguisher he had thrown earlier. “I’m going to throw this out the door to see if she set motion sensors. You hide under a desk in case of an explosion.”

“What about you?” Sinbad asked. They couldn’t escape if Ja’far got injured or killed!

Ja’far smiled at him as though he were the cutest thing in the world. “Don’t worry about me, Sin. I promise I’ll be fine. I’ve taken worse, after all,” he claimed.

Now, that couldn’t be true. How could Ja’far have taken something worse than an explosion and still be alive, standing in a classroom with no visible scars?

Sinbad didn’t ask, though. They didn’t have the time. A question like that could be saved for when they were safe.

He hid under a desk and prayed that Ja’far would be safe. As he huddled with his hands to his chest, he remembered his phone.

He was so stupid! How could he forget about his diary?!

“Wait, Ja’far!” he said.

He heard the clanking of the metal on the tile in the hall, but nothing else.

“Yes, Sin?” Ja’far asked.

Sinbad let out a long breath of relief. Well, at least nothing had happened. “Never mind.”

“Alright… Well, we’re safe now,” Ja’far said, “so let’s get out of here.”

Sinbad crawled out from under the desk, and they walked out into the hallway.

It seemed as though they had done so just in time, for as they were walking down the halls, a voice in the schoolyard that was projected by a megaphone could be heard.

 _“Listen up you little twerps! I’ve just taken over your entire school! TNT has been planted everywhere inside your school, and I’ve just turned on the motion sensors! If you don’t want to die, you brats better stay put inside your classrooms!”_ Yamuraiha shouted. _“From this point forward, the entire student body is my hostage!”_

“Sin, get down,” Ja’far said as he hunkered into a crouch. “If she’s still here, she might be able to see us through the windows. We don’t want her to know where we are unless we want to be blown to bits.”

“Right,” Sinbad agreed as he crouched down to Ja’far’s level. He used to be such a quick thinker. That must have changed when his life went to shit. He just felt so useless now.

Ja’far looked back at him. “Can your phone tell us when an explosion will go off?” he asked.

Sinbad wasn’t sure. His phone hadn’t given him any new notifications that he knew of, but just in case, he checked his phone.

He was surprised to see a new future before him. He must’ve had his phone on silent, for he didn’t remember it vibrating like it tended to do when it gave him his future.

“Yeah, looks like it does,” Sinbad said.

Ja’far nodded to him. He straightened a little to look out the window. “It looks like everyone’s gathered in the other building. I don’t think any of our actions will hurt the others,” he said. “What does your phone say?”

Sinbad looked back down at the screen.

**11:29 [Inside The School]**

**A bomb exploded on the stairs as we were going down**

Sinbad looked to see where they were, only to see that they were right next to the stairwell. “We need to go back. A bomb’s going to explode the way we were going,” he said.

Ja’far nodded. “Let’s try the other staircase,” he suggested. “Or maybe the fire escape, if that doesn’t work.”

“Sounds good,” Sinbad said as he began to crawl back the way they had come.

“Sin, can you tell me what your diary says so I don’t feel so nervous?” he asked.

So Ja’far felt nervous when he was left in the dark about information. That was good to know, though Sinbad didn’t think it would be of any use later on.

“Yeah,” he said. “Hold on.”

He pulled out his phone and looked at his screen, then recited what he saw to Ja’far.

**11:30 [Inside The School]**

**3F2-C’s corridor, the wall suddenly collapses and scares us. No survivors found in the room**

**11:32 [Inside The School]**

**3F2-D’s corridor, found bodies of more students**

**11:34 [Inside The School]**

**3F2-E’s corridor, nothing out of the ordinary**

Ja’far sighed. “Your diary is great for picking up large amounts of information, but it’d be more helpful if it could pick up on Ninth’s actions,” he said.

“Sorry about that,” Sinbad said sheepishly.

Ja’far shook his head and gave him a soft smile. “It’s not your fault. Every diary has its quirks. Yours just doesn’t pick up on people.”

Sinbad’s diary began to screech as the entries were changed.

“What? I didn’t do anything…” Sinbad mumbled as he looked at the screen.

“What does it say?” Ja’far pried.

Sinbad repeated the words he read off the screen.

**11:30 [Inside The School]**

**A bomb placed inside class 3F2-C was detonated from afar**

Ja’far looked up at the sign for the classroom nearest to them only for it to read the same name Sinbad had repeated.

He stood up at once and pulled Sinbad to his feet. “Run!” he yelled as he pushed Sinbad forward.

They moved forward quickly and got away from the room just before it blew to pieces.

“She can see us now! I’ll be your eyes, so keep telling me what the diary says!” Ja’far said in a panicked voice. He darted to Sinbad’s side and placed his arm on the underside of the older boy’s upper arm so that he could guide him.

“Got it!” Sinbad said.

**11:33 [Inside The School]**

**Explosion at the end of the corridor**

Ja’far clicked his tongue as they approached the said corridor quickly. At the last moment, he pulled Sinbad to the left and led him down the stairs.

“You’re amazing Ja’far!” Sinbad praised.

The boy blushed. “I-It’s nothing…” he mumbled as he continued to guide his friend. They reached the end of the stairs and ran down the hallway on the first floor.

 _This is great… With Ja’far and me as a team, we’re unstoppable!_ Sinbad thought. _This was the best decision I could have made. I want to keep him by my side._

One of the rooms they passed blew up, and Sinbad realized that he hadn’t been checking his phone enough.

“Sinbad!” Ja’far cried.

“Sorry, sorry!” he said back meaningfully. “I’ll keep reading!”

**11:40 [Inside The School]**

**Another explosion inside the auditorium**

**11:44 [Inside The School]**

**The corridor next to 1-E, next to the fire hose, explodes**

Sinbad paused for a moment so that he could wipe the sweat off of his forehead. He was hot before, but now he felt like he was burning.

“Sinbad, take off your jacket!” Ja’far hissed.

Sinbad looked at him only to get a face full of heat as flames ate away at his jacket. He cried out and stopped running in order to rip it off. He threw it on the ground and stomped the fire out. He hoped it wasn’t too badly damaged. It was his only one!

Ja’far growled and pulled Sinbad away before he could grab the burnt piece of fabric. “Maybe try reading about what happens to yourself, too!” he scolded. “I don’t want you to get hurt!”

Right! Focus on himself. He needed to focus on what happened to him.

Sinbad scrolled through his phone to see if there was anything that would help him.

**11:46 [Inside The School]**

**Chain explosion at 1-D’s corridor**

**11:50 [Inside The School]**

**An explosion from the stairs next to the resource room**

**11:55 [Inside The School]**

**An explosion from inside the nurse’s office**

Sinbad slowed to a stop, as did Ja’far when he noticed Sinbad wasn’t beside him anymore.

“What’s wrong?” the silver-haired boy asked.

Sinbad looked away. “The diary only tells me what going to happen to my surroundings…” he said. “I think the most it will give me on my wellbeing is a Dead End.”

Ja’far pulled out his phone. “Did you forget about my phone?” he asked. “I don’t want to use it because I’d like to look at my surroundings while we run, but it looks like that can’t be helped now.”

He flipped open the screen just as a new message appeared, and his eyes widened.

**11:46**

**Sinbad is seriously injured in an explosion. I think he’s going to die…!**

“GET DOWN!” Ja’far screamed. He pushed Sinbad to the ground and shielded him with his own body just as a huge chain explosion went off in the rooms beside them.

The floor cracked and crumbled away due to the force and the following tremors, and they fell to the basement.

Sinbad thankfully didn’t end up with more than a few cuts bruises, with most of them on his back due to sharp and uncomfortable gravel digging into his skin.

He groaned as he picked his head up. The world spun around him but stopped after only a few seconds.

Once he got his bearings together, he remembered that Ja’far had taken the brunt of the explosions, and saw that he was now lying motionless on his chest.

“Ja’far?” Sinbad whispered in disbelief. He couldn’t be dead. Ja’far couldn’t leave him, not yet! They were supposed to get out of this together!

He sat up with a bit of effort, then gently moved Ja’far so that he was cradling the smaller boy in his arms. “Please wake up,” he begged. He looked at Ja’far’s chest to see that it rose and fell with ease. He kept a close eye on it as he pressed two fingers just under his jaw to check for a steady pulse.

The boy’s heart was beating fast, understandably. He was probably worn out from running. The explosion must have also given him a big scare. Sinbad hadn’t realized that someone’s heart could beat so fast as they slept.

He looked back up to Ja’far’s face, thinking that his eyes would still be closed. Sinbad got a nice little scare when he saw that they weren’t.

“Jesus, kid… you scared me half to death…” Sinbad sighed. “Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Ja’far gave him a little smile. “I’m fine, he promised in a weak voice. “I told you, I’ve taken worse.”

Sinbad sighed. “Yeah, you told me… I didn’t think you’d have to show me, though,” he said.

Ja’far chuckled and tried to sit up, but Sinbad held him tighter against his chest in response. “Don’t move yet,” he said. “Let’s calm down a little and think up a plan.”

Ja’far blushed and fell limp in Sinbad’s arms. “A-Alright…” he mumbled.

They were silent for a few moments before Ja’far spoke up.

“Sin… May I have a reward for saving you?” he asked softly. He felt so bold all of a sudden!

Sinbad laughed softly. “Of course. Anything you’d like,” he promised.

Ja’far swallowed and looked away with a soft blush. “Will you kiss me?”

He wasn’t answered with words, but with soft yet slightly chapped lips against his own.

Ja’far was, surprisingly, the first to pull away.

Sinbad smiled at him. “Was that good enough?” he asked.

“For now,” Ja’far said. “I might want more once we’re safe…”

Sinbad looked at Ja’far’s blushing face with a smile. Even if Ja’far was a stalker… Sinbad _did_ have a crush on him at one point, and now, looking at just how cute Ja’far was up close… well, he could feel himself falling for him once again.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Ja’far asked in embarrassment.

“I was counting your freckles,” Sinbad teased. He could feel some of the happiness in his heart that he had lost long ago slowly returning. “They’re cute, and so are you.”

“Sh-shut up!” Ja’far sputtered. He crawled out of Sinbad’s arms and stood up. He was covered in cuts, Sinbad now noticed, and he was sure to be covered in bruises later on. “Stand up already… we should get a move on. If she sets off another bomb, the rest of the school might just come crashing down on top of us.”

That was probably true, and that’s what made Sinbad nervous. He stood up at once. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Ja’far looked around and found a staircase. “I guess this is the old gymnasium the students say is haunted,” he chuckled. “We’re lucky the door up there is blown off its hinges, or we’d be stuck.”

“Yeah,” Sinbad said. He checked his phone for any new updates but saw none. He gently urged Ja’far forward. “It looks like we’re safe. I don’t think she put any bombs down here.”

“That’s good,” Ja’far said. He reached for Sinbad’s hand and gripped it softly as they made their way to the stairs.

“Hey, Ja’far, do you believe in ghosts?” Sinbad asked as he remembered what Ja’far had said about the room they were in being haunted.

Ja’far thought for a moment. “No,” he said. “No, I don’t think I do.”

“Why not?” Sinbad asked. “I do.”

Ja’far hummed. “Maybe it’s because I’ve never seen one,” he said. Then he followed up with something strange.

“If I believed in ghosts, or saw even one…” he said, “Then I think that a lot of things in my life would be different. In fact… I’m not sure I would even be here.”


	13. A New Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Police are finally on the scene, but it seems as though force can't be used. A new plan has to be made in order to get the rest of the students out safely.

An attractive, tan man with bleached hair opened the door to look into his boss’ room. “Chief, the snipers are in position. What do we do?” he asked.

“Call them off,” said the man. He had dark green hair and wore a single earring that dangled down with a shining ruby at the end. “It’s no good.”

“But sir, that’s Yamuraiha in the flesh!” the other man argued. “She’s on the top ten most wanted list here in Japan! Are we really going to let that terrorist witch do as she pleases?!”

The chief sighed and turned around in his seat to show his assistant his phone. “I told you, Sharrkan, it’s no use. She was smart enough to know we’d be after her, so she rigged herself,” he explained. “She’s now the ultimate trigger. If her heart stops, the whole school goes up in flames.”

Sharrkan grit his teeth and clenched his fists tight. “Then what do you propose we do?” he asked.

The man’s eyes flashed as he looked up. “Call everyone off. I think what we need is a negotiation,” he said. “I’ll go in.”


	14. I'll Be Back!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sinbad is betrayed by the people Ja'far thought were his friends, but he handles it alright. He makes friends with another new diary user, and Ja'far shows everyone how much of a badass he is.

“Ja’far, why did we come to the other building?” Sinbad asked. “There’s a Dead End set for an hour from now. I think that means she’s going to blow this up.”

“I don’t understand why it’s an hour from now if she could just kill us at any time,” Ja’far said. “But anyway, I brought you here because I figured these guys were our friends. With more people on our side, maybe we could figure out a plan to get out of this alive.”

“That’s a good idea, Ja’far,” Sinbad said, “but I’m pretty sure at least a good half of the students in this school hate my guts.”

“You’d be amazed at the way the fear of impending death can bring people together,” Ja’far said with a smile.

“I suppose you’re right…” Sinbad said. He peered around the corner where they were hiding so that he could peer down the hallway. “Hey, isn’t that… Barbarossa?”

Ja’far furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“Hey, man! Over here! Let’s get out of here!” Sinbad said in a sort of whisper-yell as he looked at someone down the hall.

“He’s out of the classroom?!” Ja’far asked.

“Yeah! She must’ve turned the motion sensors off on accident or something!” Sinbad said.

Ja’far grabbed Sinbad and pulled him back around the corner. He put his hand over Sinbad’s mouth to keep him from making any more noise. “They’re not supposed to be out of the rooms! Something’s wrong!” he hissed, but it was already too late. Dozens of pairs of footsteps could be heard running down the hall toward them.

Ja’far stood up quickly and offered Sinbad a hand, which he took as he stood up as well. “We need to run,” the younger boy said.

“Found them!” shouted Barbarossa as he rounded the corner.

He and his friends chased the two down and caught them with ease. Ja’far was restrained by two classes, then three, and then four due to his constant thrashing and screaming.

Sinbad was shoved to the floor, his hands were pinned to his back, and Barbarossa held him down by placing his foot hard between the boy’s shoulder blades.

“Why are you doing this?!” Sinbad spat at the older boy.

“The terrorist lady said she’d let us all go peacefully if we just brought you to her,” he said in response. “I’m not sure how you manipulated Ja’far into helping you, but I guess we have to restrain him, too, now. Oh, and also, we need your stupid phone.”

“No!” Sinbad cried as one of the other boys began to dig in his pockets. His phone was found, then leisurely tossed out the window to Sinbad’s distress.

If it broke when it hit the ground… Would he end up like the Third?

Sinbad prayed the phone would have a soft landing, though he was probably asking too much.

To his surprise, he didn’t die several seconds later as the boys pulled him to his feet. He gave them a good struggle, and continued to do so as he was walked down the hall.

“I want to know what you did to piss off one of Japan’s most wanted,” Barbarossa said. “Did you get into some sort of website on that crappy phone of yours? Or did you give the police information on her whereabouts?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Sinbad swore.

“Bullshit!” Barbarossa hissed at him as he led him down the stairs with two others helping. “If you didn’t do anything, then why is she after you?!”

“I don’t know!”

Barbarossa growled and harshly kicked Sinbad out the doors once they reached the bottom of the stairs. “You’re a fucking liar, Sinbad. I’m actually glad you’re going to die,” he told him before he shut the doors and locked them so that Sinbad couldn’t get back inside.

Sinbad grit his teeth angrily. He really was going to die, and no one could help him, not even Ja’far.

He sat on his knees and looked at the ground as he recounted his life for what he thought was the last time.

 _“Nice job, brats!”_ Yamuraiha boomed through her loudspeaker. _“Now all of you return to your little classrooms before I turn the motion sensors back on!”_

She waited for a full minute before she pulled out a small computer and clicked a few buttons. _“Time’s up! If you’re not in a room, then don’t move!”_ she said.

Sinbad looked up at her angrily, but noticed something in short way in front of her, next to a small metal disk. A bit of life gleamed off of the item resting next to it.

It was his phone! It wasn’t cracked, but it wasn’t safe. At least now he knew where it was. Thank _god._

Yamuriaha turned to look at him and smirked. She clicked the button on her loudspeaker and said, _“Goodbye, First,”_ but, before she could click her detonator button, a loud explosion from the other building diverted her attention. _“What?!”_

The first explosion was followed by a second, then a third, and a fourth, until there was a string of explosions all the way through the top floor. There was a short pause between them before the explosions began again on the next floor.

Sinbad looked up at the window to see a flash of white making its way down the hall.

_Ja’far, no!_

///

 _This was my fault. I thought these people were his friends, and I was wrong. I sold him out!_ Ja’far thought angrily as he was dragged into a classroom, then let go. _Now, because of my stupid mistake, Sin is going to die._

Little tears pricked Ja’far’s eyes as he thought of that as a possibility. _No! I can’t let that happen!_ He thought as he stood up straight.

Several students, both male and female, tried to get his attention. He figured they were asking if he was alright, but he ignored them. _No, this can’t happen at all. I won’t let him be taken from me again. He’s the only person I care about. Everyone else…_ he thought, his eyes became hard and cold, and he darted out the door.

He was pushed against the window by the force of the explosion that followed, but he ignored the pain and began to run down the hall as fast as he could.

_Everyone else can just die!_

///

“I never thought he would just barge through like that,” Yamuraiha said to herself. “What an idiot. He’s probably dead now, anyway.”

She turned back to Sinbad. _“Your friend was pretty much useless. I’m going to set off the rest of the bombs and mines in ten minutes, anyway,”_ she boomed at him.

Sinbad clenched his fist as small tears pricked at his eyes. At least… At least Ja’far had bought him a little time.

“Hey, you can’t have all the fun,” said someone new from behind Sinbad.

The boy quickly turned his head to see a man with odd-looking, spiky green hair and a single red earring hanging from his left earlobe. He looked like he could have been related to Barbarossa.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, First,” he said as he approached. He stood next to Sinbad and smirked. “My name is Dragul. I’d give you my full name, but I fear we don’t have the time, so just call me chief Dragul for now.”

Sinbad blinked. “A-Alright…” he said. The man’s voice seemed so familiar.

Dragul chuckled. “Don’t look so insecure. I said I’d protect you, didn’t I?” he asked.

Sinbad’s eyes widened. “That was you?!” he asked.

Dragul grinned and pulled a gun from his pocket. “Sure was, now excuse me as I divert my attention to someone else,” he said, and turned to Yamuraiha. “You’re pretty bold to pick a fight with a kid, especially like this, Ninth.”

Yamuraiha grinned. “So you finally showed up, Fourth!” she shouted. “It’s about time!”

Dragul didn’t take his gaze off of her. “I want you to know that you aren’t her primary target. She wants me more than she wants you,” he told Sinbad. “I have a diary known as the Investigation Diary, which shows me all the information I need for every case I take. Since I’m currently on hers, she sees me as a huge threat.”

That made sense. Now Sinbad understood why Yamuraiha had set such an odd time limit.

“I’m not interested in the throne of God,” Dragul told him. “I’m going to end this sick game!”

Yamuraiha smiled at him. She clicked a few buttons on her tablet, then raised the loudspeaker back to her mouth. _“Well, If that’s what you want, then just kill the kid and blow your own brains out right after. You can’t kill me, or the school will explode, but you couldn’t get close enough to try, anyway, as I’ve just armed the minefield.”_

Dragul winced. He couldn’t shoot her, or the rest of the survivors would die. He had him backed into a corner already.

He sighed and then turned to Sinbad, who gulped and looked at him fearfully.

Dragul cocked his gun and aimed it Sinbad’s forehead. “Sorry kid, but… Two deaths are better than two hundred, you know. Or, at least I’m hoping it’s around two hundred. I don’t know how many kids are left anymore,” he said.

Sinbad grit his teeth and slumped to the ground. “This really sucks, huh…?” he asked, his voice showing just how hopeless he felt. He looked back up at the chief with sadness in his eyes. “Tell me that my death won’t be for nothing, at least.”

Dragul gave him a sad smile. “Of course not. You’re saving all those students, don’t you remember?” he pointed out.

He wasn’t about to pull the trigger, he never planned on it, but if he were, he would have stopped, anyway, once he heard the sound of shattering glass.

All heads turned toward the noise to see Ja’far soaring through the air from a second story window. He rolled once he hit the ground, then stood straight up as though he didn’t have any injuries, and lunged at Yamuraiha. He knocked her detonator out of her hands at the first kick thanks to her state of shock.

Dragul almost laughed at the irony as he pointed his gun away. “Stand up, First,” he said as he offered his hand. “Put on a grateful smile and go get your phone. I’ve got you covered from here.”

Sinbad broke into a relieved grin and took Dragul’s hand. He stood up quickly and ran toward his phone.

Yamuraiha looked over to see him running and shouted, “Are you crazy?! That’s a minefield, you dumbass!”

Ja’far kicked her a good distance away, where she landed on her side. “Thanks for telling me,” he told her as he pulled out his phone. He began to direct Sinbad as to where he should go.

“Fuck! You’re a diary user, too?!” Yamuraiha hissed. She scrambled to her feet and retrieved her button. “I’ll just do this manually!”

She didn’t have the time to readjust the settings on her tablet, so she’d just set off the mines one by one.

“Go faster, Sin! You’re almost clear!” Ja’far shouted. He didn’t seem panicked at all, but Yamuraiha didn’t know that was a bad sign for her.

“Shut up!” Yamuraiha snapped. She sprinted over to him and kicked his phone from his hands, sending it flying a good distance away.

Ja’far got up at once to retrieve it. He wanted to kill Yamuraiha, but he needed to protect Sinbad above that, and he couldn’t do that without his phone.

Sinbad picked up his phone without setting off the mine it rested against.

Explosions began to go off one by one behind Sinbad as he ran, getting closer and closer as he neared the end of the field.

Yamuraiha cursed as he neared the end of the field. Her eyes flicked to the mine at the very edge. It was the last one. If Sinbad kept running in the direction he was going, he’d hit it, too!

To her surprise, Sinbad darted to the left and avoided it shortly before he hit it.

“How?!” she shouted at him.

“You kept staring at it!” Sinbad shouted back.

Yamuraiha screamed and set off the bomb anyway, then threw the detonator away furiously.

The force of the explosion propelled Sinbad forward, sending him directly for Yamuraiha.

Without a second thought, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a dart. His body seemed to be moving on its own at that point. The only thought that crossed his mind was _destroy the phone._

As he got closer and closer, Yamuraiha saw the dart heading straight for her face and instinctively lifted the only thing left in her hand, her phone, to prevent herself from getting hurt.

She quickly realized that that was a bad idea as the dart grew to be only mere inches from her eyeball. She moved her phone out of harm’s way as quickly as she could, but the only thing that did was give her a sharp needle directly through her eye.

Sinbad pulled away the second Yamuraiha began to scream in pure, crippling agony.

Dragul walked to Sinbad’s side and gave him a congratulatory pat on the back. “It’s over, Yamuraiha,” he said. “It’s time for you to atone for your cries.”

Yamuraiha stopped screaming in order to give him an evil, angry glare. She was gritting her teeth so hard that Sinbad could have sworn that he heard them cracking. “Not on your LIFE!” she roared before she reached into a pocket and pulled out a small button. She pressed it, and several smoke bombs went off around her, making her disappear from sight.

Dragul moved his hand from Sinbad’s shoulder to hold his arm out in front of the boy so as to keep him from moving forward. Not that he would, but he figured it was a habit of the chief’s.

Several seconds later, Yamuraiha sped past them on a motorcycle. Sinbad could see clearly that her eye was bleeding heavily, and he felt worlds of guilt crash down upon him.

“I’ll be back!” Yamuraiha shouted over the engine, only just loud enough for the two to hear before she sped away, out of sight.

Dragul looked to Sinbad sheepishly. “Don’t ask me how she got the motorcycle or how she hid it, because I don’t know,” he said.

Sinbad put up his hands and laughed nervously. “I won’t,” he promised.

Dragul sighed. “Her diary is known as the Escape Diary,” he informed. “That damn thing is the only reason she’s able to continually slip out of my grasp.”

“Maybe, but I’m sure you’ll catch her sooner or later,” Sinbad said.

“I hope so, kid,” Dragul said. “Or we’re in big trouble.”

///

“Alright, I want you two to know that the paramedics only found people with injuries in the second building,” Dragul told them after everything at the school was sorted out. “The only deaths were in the first one. I don’t think Yamuraiha planned to kill very many people in the first place.”

Sinbad sighed in relief. After Yamuraiha had left, a bomb squad went into the school and attempted to get rid of the rest of the bombs safely. To their relief, what was left was usable, but not armed.

A paramedic team went in right after to help the injured and dispose of bodies. Sinbad and Ja’far were helped first because they were already outside when the bomb squad went in.

Sinbad only had a few bandages wrapped around his waist due to the major bruisings. The paramedics were scared he had cracked a rib, but they assured him it would only be a hairline fracture if there was one at all. Sinbad didn’t want to go to a hospital to have it checked out. He figured he wouldn’t do anything near as big as that anytime soon, so if there was a fracture, it’d heal up just fine on its own.

Ja’far, on the other hand, had bandages all over his body. He outright refused to go to a hospital to be treated for any breaks or deep cuts, and went so far as to argue with the paramedics until they decided it was useless to fight back and just treated him for his injuries on the spot.

Sinbad didn’t get to see the full extent of injuries, as he had been treated inside the ambulance while the door was shut. He only got to see the wraps on Ja’far’s arms and the new brace for his ankle that peeked out from his shoe, as well as the two smaller bandages that rested on his chin and his neck.

“I would like you two to pair up with me so that I can keep you safe,” Dragul said. “I’d never be able to forgive myself if I let two kids get killed while playing this crazy game.”

With what he said, Sinbad knew that the deaths of the students in the second building were already wearing down on the chief hard, even though he refused to show it.

Sinbad looked to Ja’far for approval. “I follow you,” the younger boy had said. “If you think this is the right choice, then I’ll go along with it.”

That was all the older boy needed. “We’ll do it,” he said.

Dragul smiled at him. “That’s great. Let’s call ourselves the Future Alliance. What do you say?” he asked.

It was cheesy, of course, but Sinbad didn’t voice that thought. He figured the detective was proud of the name, so he just went along with it.

“Alright, so from now on, I’ll offer you two protection and updates on diary users as we find and follow them,” Dragul said. “I might need you two for little missions like gathering information, but I won’t ever give you anything too dangerous. Understood?”

Both Sinbad and Ja’far nodded. “Understood!” they said in unison.

Dragul gave them a thumbs up. “Good to know. That’s all I need of you for now,” he told them. “I’ll have a few officers escort you home. I have your cell phone numbers, and I gave you both a card with mine earlier, so I trust you’ll call me if anything goes wrong. I’ll also have a mission for you in the morning, but for now, you two need some rest.”

Sinbad was glad Dragul had said that, because it was absolutely true.


	15. Today was Supposed to be Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sinbad and Ja'far get to have a fun day at an amusement park under chief Dragul's orders. The fun only lasts while they're there, though.

“I told you two yesterday that I’d call you in for your first mission,” Dragul told Sinbad and Ja’far, who sat in front of him looking nervous.

“You did… what do we need to do?” Sinbad asked.

Dragul smiled at them. “It’s nothing remotely dangerous if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Sinbad sighed in relief at that.

“We have five diary users found so far, meaning you two, myself, Ninth, and then Third, who’s already out of the game. We need to find the remaining seven,” Dragul explained.

“Do we get to do some super-secret detective work?” Sinbad asked excitedly.

“Not… exactly,” Dragul said. “Yamuraiha is still on the run, and I need to keep an eye on you in case she goes after you again, which I’m certain she will. I also need you two to keep an eye out for any strange activity that might go on around the area so that we can find more of the diary users. This is going to be much easier for us to do since the school is closed down until further notice.”

What Sinbad believed he meant was that he could use the two students at any time of day he pleased for the time-being. “What do you suggest we do?” the purple-haired boy asked.

Dragul pointed out the window at a large Ferris wheel that spun lazily around at an amusement park that rested a short distance away. “I wouldn’t call it a date, per say, but it might be the best word to explain it since I figure you two are a little more than friends,” he said with a wink in Ja’far’s direction. Perhaps the two had spoken prior to Sinbad’s arrival.

Still, Sinbad blushed at the notion. He was glad the detective was accepting of their sexualities, but he knew that going on a date in public with another man might be frowned on by others.

“In a crowded place like that, you might find another diary user, and if anything should happen with Ninth, we can have a team of trained officers there in minutes,” Dragul continued. “If you come across anyone strange, just update me. Don’t go near them. I can’t stress enough that I want to keep you two safe.”

Ja’far tilted his head as he looked at Sinbad. “Are you embarrassed by the date idea?” he asked.

He’d seemed to be a lot calmer and happier as of late. He wasn’t as creepy as he had come off as during their first meeting. Sinbad wondered what happened to the younger boy to make him so content.

“I’m scared of what other people will think if they see us,” Sinbad said truthfully.

“Don’t worry about them,” Dragul said. “Just try to focus on yourselves.”

Thanks, chief. Those words completely dissipated all of the worries and doubts that raced through Sinbad’s mind. Not.

Ja’far stood up. “Come on, Sin. I’m not much of a fan of amusement parks, but I think this is our best option if we’re going to get any further into the game,” he said.

Sinbad sighed. He had to admit to himself that he actually really did love amusement parks. He suspected that Dragul also just mainly wanted the two out of the way so he could look into Ninth’s case without having to fret over them. If that was really the reasoning, Sinbad had no reason not to go. Maybe going out with Ja’far wouldn’t be such a bad thing, either.

“Alright, you win,” Sinbad said after several moments of thought. He stood up with a soft smile and crossed his arms. “But you’ll have to keep up with me on the rides.

Ja’far chuckled. “Show me your worst,” he challenged.

* * *

The amusement park had been an _awful_ idea. Ja’far wished that chief Dragul had suggested something like a library instead.

The boy felt sick to his stomach from all the drops, the twists, the turns, and the high speeds of the rides Sinbad had dragged him on. His throat was hoarse from screaming, and he wanted nothing more than something cold to soothe the scratchiness.

To his relief, Sinbad had suggested that they take a break right when Ja’far had begun to feel as though he had taken on too much.

He felt as though the older boy knew how distressed he was from all the rides, for Sinbad had left and returned with two ice cream cones and an apologetic smile on his face. “Do you like chocolate or vanilla?” he asked.

“I’ll take the vanilla one,” Ja’far said with a smile. He knew that Sinbad loved chocolate, but so did he. It didn’t matter, though. He preferred for Sinbad to have his favorite. Vanilla wasn’t that bad, either. He only wished that Sinbad had brought a strawberry cone instead.

Sinbad sat down across from Ja’far after he had given him his cone. He gave Ja’far an odd look when the boy took a big bite out of the top of the swirl. “You’re supposed to lick it!” he scolded.

“Why? So you can get off on it?” Ja’far teased.

Sinbad looked away with a sheepish smile, and Ja’far knew at once that he had been correct, even if it had only been a joke.

“You pervert!” the silver-haired boy cried.

Sinbad laughed. “You got me, you got me,” he said.

Ja’far huffed and leaned back in his seat. He glared at Sinbad as he continued to take bites out of his cone. His glare softened as he watched Sinbad smile and laugh as he spoke to him about his favorite rides and how great this day was going.

Ever since he got his diary, Sinbad had begun to change. He was starting to act more like his normal self… More like the Sin he knew and loved. He was so much happier now, and Ja’far accounted that to the excitement and adventure he was experiencing.

Sinbad had never been one to be content with a boring life.

“Hey, Ja’far! Are you listening?” Sinbad asked, snapping Ja’far from his thoughts.

“Sorry, what was that?” he asked.

“I asked if there were any rides that you wanted to go on,” Sinbad said.

Ja’far smiled at him. “I’d like to go on the Ferris wheel eventually, but I’d rather save that for this evening,” he said. “I can’t think of much else. I told you, I’m not all that big on amusement parks.”

Sinbad snorted. “We need to find you more rides to enjoy,” he said.

“Can we take a break from the roller coasters at least?” Ja’far asked.

“Are you scared of them?” Sinbad asked.

Ja’far looked away with a soft blush, which made Sinbad smile.

The younger boy really was cute. Sinbad felt a strong urge to protect him, but he knew Ja’far didn’t need much protecting.

“You know your hair is a mess, right?” the older boy pointed out.

Ja’far’s face reddened more as his hands flew to his head to flatten down his hair. “And who’s fault is that?!” he huffed.

“It’s mine! I’m guilty!” Sinbad laughed.

* * *

“I’m not sure how you talked me into this,” Ja’far grumbled as he hugged himself self-consciously.

“We still have around an hour until it’s dark enough to ride the Ferris wheel like you wanted,” Sinbad said with a grin. He placed his hand on Ja’far’s shoulder supportively. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“I don’t like swimming,” Ja’far claimed.

“Yeah, well, you don’t like amusement parks either and you went on all those rides with me anyway,” Sinbad pointed out. “Just get in the water, I promise it’s fine.”

Ja’far tugged at the hem of his shirt nervously. “This is the only shirt I brought along. I don’t want it to get wet,” he said.

“Then take it off. It’s no fun being in here by myself!” Sinbad whined.

“I have to keep it on!” Ja’far claimed.

“If this is a thing about body image, I promise that no one is looking-“

“They will!” Ja’far interrupted.

“Then you can wear my shirt once we’re done here,” Sinbad promised.

Ja’far still looked uncertain, but he slowly approached the edge of the pool.

Sinbad huffed and grabbed Ja’far’s leg, then pulled him in. He laughed at Ja’far’s surprised yelp and laughed again at the glare he received from the younger boy as he slowly surfaced.

An all-out splash war started between them until they got in trouble with one of the lifeguards for being “unsafe.”

Ja’far enjoyed his time there, though he thought he wouldn’t, and when they got out, it was already past six.

Sinbad led Ja’far back to the changing rooms, where they showered separately. Once Ja’far was done showering, he slipped on the dry clothes he had, then hugged his wet shirt to his chest with a blush as he approached Sinbad.

“Is that shirt offer still valid?” He asked shyly.

Sinbad smiled at him. “Of course,” he said. “Why are you so insecure about yourself, though?”

Ja’far looked away. He thought for a moment, considering whether or not he should lie, but settled on telling him the truth. “I have… a lot of scars,” he said hesitantly.

Sinbad blinked. “Did you have surgery somewhere or something?” he asked.

Ja’far shook his head, and Sinbad suddenly felt very bad for asking. He gave Ja’far his shirt without another word, then turned around to grab his jacket, which he slipped on and zipped up.

When he turned around, he caught a glance at one of the scars on the boy’s lower stomach before the oversized shirt was pulled all the way down. It looked like a former puncture wound.

The boy wanted so badly to ask what had happened there, but he knew enough to keep his mouth shut. He and Ja’far didn’t know each other well enough for him to ask such a deep, personal, and possibly triggering question.

Ja’far bit his lips when he finally tugged the hem down to fit him. The shirt was maybe two sizes too big, and it hung off his skinny body awkwardly.

This didn’t stop Sinbad from thinking that it was the most adorable thing he could have ever laid his eyes on.

“I’ll give it back before we go home,” Ja’far promised.

At this point, Sinbad didn’t care if Ja’far kept it. The shirt definitely wasn’t his favorite, and he began to daydream about how Ja’far would look if he were _only_ wearing the shirt, which was a mistake. Once he imagined it, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. It was pure bliss.

“Sin, are we going or not?” Ja’far asked.

“Oh, right,” Sinbad replied, sounding dazed. He offered Ja’far his hand, and they walked out the building.

“Would you like to go to the planetarium after the Ferris wheel?” Ja’far asked innocently as they walked along the paved road.

Well, there went Sinbad’s good mood. “No,” he said coldly. “I’d rather not.”

Ja’far gave him a sad look, but didn’t say anything else.

* * *

“Isn’t it better to ride this in the evening? Everything is more beautiful when washed with the glow of the fading sun, don’t you think?” Ja’far asked as he looked out the window with big eyes.

He really did love Ferris wheels, it seemed. Ja’far was even more adorable when he was excited.

“Yeah,” Sinbad said. “Hey, Ja’far…”

Ja’far looked away from the window to meet Sinbad’s eyes. “Hm?”

“I’ve been wondering… Why do you have so many scars?” Sinbad asked. He just couldn’t help himself. He had to know. “And… why did you choose me to like? There are plenty of better people in the world.”

Ja’far smiled at him. He ignored both of the questions to counter with his own. “Why didn’t you want to go to the planetarium?”

Sinbad looked away with a huff. Ja’far moved to stand over him. He slid his knee between Sinbad’s legs for balance and placed his hands on the older boy’s shoulders.  “I thought you liked stars,” he said softly.

Sinbad looked back up at him, ready to push him away. “Did your diary tell you that?” he sneered.

Ja’far shook his head. “You did,” he claimed. “In class about a year ago… When we took that career survey.”

The older boy remembered that time. He had been having trouble with deciding what he wanted to do when he grew older. It was after the divorce between his parents had been finalized, and he had been stuck after class along with Ja’far as he tried to think of something other than “go stargazing with my family,” to put on his paper.

Ja’far had approached him as he sat thinking at his desk and asked if he could help. Without even thinking, Sinbad bared his heart to the boy, and, surprisingly, he listened.

After that, Ja’far suggested that they go stargazing together someday. Sinbad was hesitant at first. He’d wanted to go with his family, and he voiced that to him.

 _“If that’s how it is… Then maybe we could be a family someday,”_ Ja’far had said with a gentle smile as he wrote on Sinbad’s paper.

_Get married and stargaze with my family_

It wasn’t a big change, but it was one that had an impact on Sinbad. He’d figured that Ja’far had been joking… but he’d still fallen for the boy soon afterward, which was how he discovered he was bi, to his mother’s enjoyment.

“I never thought you were serious…” Sinbad whispered.

Ja’far gave him a pitiful smile. “Who would joke about such a thing?” he asked. He leaned forward and nuzzled his nose into Sinbad’s hair. “It’d be cruel…”

* * *

Once they got off, they decided it was late enough that they needed to walk home, so they left the amusement park, only for it to start raining once they had made it halfway to Ja’far’s house.

They ran for cover in a nearby store, where Ja’far bought an umbrella and gave it to Sinbad to hold. The smaller boy happily clung to the older one’s arm as they began to walk again, close together, so that they wouldn’t be affected by the rain.

“This is my house here,” Ja’far said after several minutes of walking. He pointed to a large one-story house that seemed as though it might be abandoned do to the bad state it was in. Panels were falling off the sides of the house and several windows were broken, and there wasn’t a single light to be seen from outside the house.

“Ah, I see…” Sinbad said with uncertainty. “I guess… this means goodbye, huh?”

Ja’far hesitated. “W-would you, ah… would you like to come inside?” he asked nervously. “My parents aren’t home at the moment, so it’s fine…”

Sinbad jumped on the idea. “Well, if that’s what you want…” he said.

Ja’far nodded and led him inside, where he led the older boy to a dining area. He left for a few minutes, then returned with several candles and an apple. He lit the candles so that they could see in the darkness of the house, then placed the apple between them. “Forgive me for the lack of lighting,” he said. “I think the storm must have caused a power outage here.”

Sinbad shook his head. “It’s alright. I hope it gets fixed soon,” he said with a smile.

Ja’far smiled back. “Would you like to try the apple? It was grown in my own backyard. My mother loves the tree, and it bears delicious fruit every year.”

Sinbad chuckled. “Of course,” he said.

“I’ll go and peel it for you, then,” Ja’far said as he stood up. He took the apple into the kitchen.

When he left, Sinbad realized that he needed to use the bathroom, so he stood up as well and pulled out his phone.

 _I’m sure Ja’far won’t mind. I’ll just use this to find the bathroom, and then I’ll be back in no time,_ Sinbad thought as he walked down the hallway.

He stumbled across a room that wasn’t mentioned in his diary while on his trek. He paused to stare at in confusion. It was sealed with at least fifty charms.

 _I could change my future by opening this door, since my diary doesn’t say anything about opening it…_ Sinbad thought. The curiosity of what might be in the other room was already killing him slowly. He reached for the handle, but paused just before he opened it.

 _What if this gives me a dead end?_ He considered. _No… This is Ja’far’s home. He wouldn’t hurt me if I opened a door, and this wouldn’t affect any of the other players, so it should be fine._

He opened the door without another thought.

The smell of death and rotting flesh was the first to hit him. The smell was so strong that it made him gag. He wondered what might be in this room to give off such an awful, crippling smell, so he shone the light of his phone into the room to see.

His eyes widened in fear when he saw the three bodies resting in random places in the room. “Help me” was written all over the floors and walls, sometimes in blood, others seemed to be scratched into place through the use of nails or something mildly sharp.

Charms also covered the walls and floors liberally.

Sinbad’s phone made a loud, screeching noise, but he didn’t dare to look.

“Why Sin?” came a quiet voice from behind him, causing him to jump in fear. “Why would you look?”

Sinbad spun around to see Ja’far standing there with a peeled apple in his hand. A single tear ran down his cheek as he stared Sinbad down.

The young man suddenly felt afraid for his life. If he stayed any longer, he might end up an addition to the closed-off room.

He darted away, but Ja’far stayed in place and merely watched him go with profound sadness in his eyes.

Sinbad ran home as fast as he could in the pouring rain. He didn’t care that Ja’far still had his shirt, and he didn’t care that his new jacket was getting drenched.

He made it home without any problems. He slammed his door and locked it, then double and triple checked to make sure he locked it tight.

He looked at the note left for him on the door.

_Came home but you were gone. I still have work, so I won’t be back for another few weeks. A detective dropped by and told me to tell you to call him. It sounds like he’s going to pick you up tomorrow. Love you!_

That’s right. He still needed to call chief Dragul and report his day to him. He needed to tell him about the bodies.

Sinbad sat down, feeling overwhelmed as he took off his muddy shoes and sopping jacket, leaving him shirtless and cold.

His attention was suddenly directed to the mail slot when it made a noise.

What he saw was none other than one of Ja’far’s silver eyes, open wide, the pupil seemed to be no more than a slit. It was as though he were staring into the eye of a serpent.

“Sweet dreams, Sin,” came his calm, quiet voice, only just loud enough to hear over the pattering of raindrops outside. “Sleep well. I’ll see you in the morning.”

_Just what was he thinking?!_


	16. The Clairvoyance Diary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Future Alliance finds another diary user with a problem she wants to be solved in exchange for the Ninth user. What the others don't know is that the favor she wants isn't as simple as they first thought it would be.

Sinbad had holed himself up in his room and threw a blanket over his head to make himself feel safe. It wouldn’t protect him, if, say, a knife came flying at him, but still. It was comforting to have a weight surrounding him like armor.

The boy gulped as he stared at his phone. He needed to call Drakon. He had to tell him about Ja’far.

He clicked on the man’s name but was prevented from calling him as a notification for a new text message popped up on the screen.

He clicked to open it, then shut his phone and tossed it to the end of his bed.

**[Ja’far]**

**Who are you calling?**

_Damn!_ Ja’far had him in a corner. He knew Sinbad’s every move. He feared that if he tried anything, his life might be in danger.

He’d just have to wait it out. He could tell Drakon in person the next day. Then, he would have some protection in case Ja’far tried anything.

/ / /

Sinbad woke to his phone ringing and someone banging on his door.

He answered his phone in a panic, thinking it might have been an angry Ja’far.

“Ja’far, I swear swear I didn’t do anything-“

“What?” came a voice on the other line that _definitely_ wasn’t Ja’far’s.

“Oh, Drakon…”

“Are you home? I’ve been knocking for a few minutes and there’s still no answer.”

Sinbad checked the time. It was almost eleven in the morning. “Ah, sorry! It looks like I slept in. I’ll be right down!” he promised, then hung up.

He jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes and a jacket, then combed out his hair, washed his face, and brushed his teeth before he finally made it downstairs and opened the door as he struggled to slip on his shoes.

“You kept me waiting long enough,” Drakon sighed. “You didn’t check in last night, either. You had me worried for a while.”

Sinbad hesitated. “Drakon…” he said. “About that, something happened with Ja’far that night and I-“

“Hey,” came Ja’far’s projected voice from the car parked on the side of the road. He had a small blush on his face. “Don’t tell him that, Sin. It’s embarrassing…”

He was a damn good actor. Sinbad’s trust in him wavered a bit more. He couldn’t do anything about that room with Ja’far nearby, it seemed.

Drakon waved his hand in dismissal and walked back to the car. “Alright, I understand now. I was young once, too,” he said. “I just don’t want to be kept out of the loop on _important_ things, Sinbad.”

Sinbad grit his teeth and walked over to the car, where he slipped into the passenger’s seat. He didn’t want to sit near Ja’far at that moment.

He looked up at the rearview mirror so he could watch Ja’far in case he tried anything, like pull a weapon.

To his surprise, Ja’far had already been looking at him. He had a small, almost smug smile on his face, dark shadows under his eyes like he had been up for days, and a blush spread across his cheeks. Had he not been faking that?

“I’m bringing you two along with me today because Ninth has been caught,” Drakon said, which earned him a shocked look from Sinbad. “My Investigation Diary has given me the details.”

“And those are?” Sinbad asked.

“She was captured by a religious group known as the “Okuta Religion,” “ Drakon explained. “According to my diary, I need you two in order to bring her into custody, though I don’t know why.”

/ / /

Once they got to the shrine, Sinbad wandered off to look at a pond filled with koi fish and pink cherry blossom petals. He thought that they might have to wait in the long line of people that stood in front of the entrance to the main building, so he wanted to spend his time looking at something a bit more interesting.

“So you’re a policeman?” a small, young woman asked Drakon. Sinbad was surprised he was still in earshot “Forgive me for this, but Miss wouldn’t even see the emperor without a prior appointment.”

“Won’t you please just check for me?” Drakon asked.

The woman sighed. “Fine, but if she says no, you have to make an appointment and leave,” she stated.

Drakon gave her a thankful nod, and she went off.

Sinbad picked up a frog which had been resting at the side of the pool. It croaked and squirmed in his hand.

He looked back in search of Drakon, but instead saw Ja’far up close to his face, which spooked him to the point that he dropped the frog, causing it to be eaten by a large fish.

“You two, come over here,” Drakon said with a sigh. “I need you to act on your best behavior today. No more throwing frogs.”

Sinbad blushed heavily, but before he could defend himself, a woman came running out awkwardly in clunky wooden shoes. “Mister Policeman!” she said loudly enough for him to here. “I’m sorry for the wait. The Lady will see you now.”

Drakon grinned at the two, then turned back to the woman and thanked her for the trouble. She led the three inside without a further word.

They were given odd ritual garb to wear that went over their heads and shoulders. They walked through a hallway, then were brought into a room that was separated off into two parts by wooden bars. Behind the wooden bars was a stage where a lone girl sat on her knees in traditional Japanese robes, and her long, vibrant red hair trailed on the floor behind her.

“Welcome, honored guests,” the woman said in a dignified manner. She seemed to exude a royal radiance. She was the very epitome of virtue and perfection at first glance, but as Sinbad drew close enough to get a better look, he could see something dark in her eyes, as though her soul had been marred by some traumatic event she’d never been able to recover from.

Immediately, Sinbad wanted to protect her.

“I am Onukata,” the woman continued, “but you may refer to me by name, Ren Kougyoku. Won’t you come closer? I would like to see your faces.”

“Is something wrong with your eyes?” Sinbad asked without thinking.

A small, girlish laugh came from the girl’s throat. She lifted her hand, covered by its sleeve, to hide her mouth daintily. “How very observant of you,” she told him once she had finally finished. Her hand fell back down to her lap. _This boy is very interesting._ “I have had poor eyesight since I was very young, but God himself bestowed upon me the gift of clairvoyance in return, thus I have been lived here in this prison nearly all my life.”

That sounded awful. How would anyone allow a girl to spend her entire life in a wooden cage?

“Now, to the reason I allowed you in here,” Kougyoku said after a moment of silence, “My ability of clairvoyance was aided with yet another gift.”

She retrieved a small scroll from a table that was at her side. “My scroll has been writing entries on its own recently. It sees the current and future actions of every person I have been acquainted with. Because of this, I have dubbed it as the Clairvoyance Diary. You all might know me better as the Sixth.”

Sinbad’s eyes widened. They were face-to-face with yet another diary user. They didn’t know what her next move would be, but he feared to check his diary to find out in case she had a guard or some sort of sneak attack planned.

Ja’far seemed to have become hostile at the revelation if the look of malice in his eyes had anything to say, but Drakon kept a serene face, though he was probably just as nervous as Ja’far and Sinbad were.

Kougyoku began to laugh again. She hid her mouth with the corner of her scroll this time. “How funny,” she giggled. “I said harmless, simple words, yet I received such interesting reactions from you all.”

“Allow me to settle your fears by telling you that I have never once thought of becoming God,” Kougyoku assured. “Such a title is not one for a humble servant such as myself. To even think of someone such as myself taking such a title is laughable.”

That seemed to calm everyone down, to Kougyoku’s relief, which meant that it was time to change the subject.

“Ninth is currently being held in an underground prison,” she said. “I wish to hand her over peacefully, in exchange for a small favor.”

“Is something wrong?” Drakon asked.

Kougyoku sighed and gave him a sorrowful look. “Currently, my mind is occupied with something other than the trivial matter of a prisoner,” she said as she opened her scroll. She turned it around for the others to see, revealing the words “Dead End” in large, black letters that seemed to be dripping with ink.

“I have been faced with a supposedly inescapable fate which will be fulfilled tonight,” she explained. “I value my life just as any other person, therefore I would like to request the aid of Sinbad so that I might be able to avoid a wretched death.”

Ja’far sneered. “No way in hell,” he growled.

“Wait a moment, Ja’far,” Drakon said. He looked up at Kougyoku with serious eyes. “Why do you need Sinbad?”

“He has managed to avoid several dead ends, am I not correct?” Kougyoku asked. “I was wondering if he could… how you say… “work his magic” and help me to avoid my own. You can have Ninth in return.”

“It’s your choice, kid,” Drakon said to Sinbad.

“It’s not a good idea,” Ja’far hissed.

“I’ll do it,” Sinbad said out of spite. He didn’t actually want to do it, but Ja’far thought it was a bad idea, and if Ja’far wanted to kill him, didn’t that mean it was best for Sinbad to do the opposite of what he advised?

///

Sinbad watched as several servants carried out a desk and several bowls from inside the prison Kougyoku resided in while others carried in a small mattress and bedding.

 _She really does spend most of her time in there,_ Sinbad thought.

Once the servants had left, Kougyoku spoke up. “In all honesty, I’ve always suspected that one of the servants here would be the one to off me,” she said.

“Does your diary tell you which one?” Sinbad asked.

Kougyoku shook her head. “My diary is not omnipotent,” she said. “I do not know the manner in which I shall die nor who kills me, but I know my life shall end at the hands of another.”

“Kougyoku… I’m not sure if I’ll be able to change your fate,” Sinbad said sincerely.

She gave him a small smile and shook her head. “That is quite alright. Even if I must die tonight, I wish to pass on useful knowledge and advice to another competitor who might be able to use it,” she told him. “Like that friend of yours, Second. He is no good. I predict that he will leave you broken in the dust.”

“Is that what your diary says?” Sinbad asked, feeling his body grow cold.

“No,” Kougyoku admitted. “It is simply woman’s intuition.”

Ja’far clutched his phone overly tightly from the doorway. He couldn’t hear what the two were saying, but his diary told him more than he needed to know.

**17:50**

**Sinbad seems hurt and uncomfortable after Kougyoku says something bad about me.**

_That bitch! I will show her death,_ he thought as he angrily grit his teeth.

He turned his head to the cage once he heard a scream of fear from inside. His eyes widened when he saw that the bedding inside Kougyoku’s prison had been set aflame.

Servants pushed past him as they tried to get in so they could save their priestess.

“Water! Someone get water!” shouted an elderly man who seemed to have a lot of authority over the others.

A younger man came running into the room with a bucket, then sloshed the liquid inside onto the burning blankets, which made the flames grow bigger, brighter, and hungrier as they began to eat away at the wooden floors.

“You idiot! That was gasoline!” the elder shrieked at the man with the bucket.

“What…?” the man mumbled. He blinked and looked at the man, confused. “Was I doing something?”

“Bah! Go and make yourself useful by staying out of the way!” the elder snapped.

“Break open the entrance!” another young man shouted as he ran toward the prison with a hatchet. He stopped short of the bars and swung at the elder instead with a blank look in his eyes. He split the man’s skull, killing him almost instantly, and he let go of the handle.

This act of violence was soon followed by more as servants began to wander in like mindless zombies, all holding hatchets. The maimed and killed one another without an ounce of sympathy, as though they were being controlled.

Sinbad had holed himself up in a corner but knew he needed to help Kougyoku, so he made a dash for the entrance to her cage, only to be stopped by Ja’far.

“Sin, wait!” he yelled. “This is a trap. Bad entries are popping up on my diary. You’re going to be killed! Let’s just go! We can save ourselves!”

Sinbad gave him an angry look. “What, so you can kill me later?!” he snapped. “Ja’far, I saw those bodies! Anyone who would trust you after seeing something that would be crazy!

“Sin…” Ja’far said in disbelief. He couldn’t think of anything to say.

“I can’t trust you anymore,” Sinbad told him, then dodged to the side and ran up the stairs into Kougyoku’s prison.

The moment he closed the door, a sprinkler system activated and put out the flames, eliminating one of the dangers.

 _Why did the sprinklers take so long to work?_ Sinbad asked himself. He checked his phone, being careful to protect it from the rain as he read the new entry.

**18:45 [Inside The Prison]**

**Drakon called. Apparently, he fixed some water pipes that someone else had damaged**

_Did someone disable the water system?_ Sinbad wondered as he jogged over to Kougyoku, who was seething with rage and grinding her teeth as though they had committed some awful sin against her.

 _“Uphold yourself like human beings!”_ she screeched. She turned her head to see Sinbad, and her attitude completely changed. “Sinbad? Did you come to help me?”

Sinbad nodded, though he flinched back a little in fear that she might throw something at him. “What happened to them?” he asked.

Kougyoku frowned and closed her eyes. “Honestly… This looks like a case of hypnotism.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually love Kougyoku, but she definitely fit the part of this role best. Leave a kudos and comment if you liked this, please! They keep me going!


	17. Captured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into what happened to Ninth while all the excitement with Sinbad and Ja'far went down.

_What happened?_ Yamuraiha thought groggily as she opened the eye that wasn’t searing with pain.

She was behind bars, chained with her hands up to a wall, and completely naked in a room lit by the light of a single torch.

She felt as though she were in some medieval-style dungeon. She was at the mercy of her captor, whomever that was, without her phone or any means of defending herself.

She supposed she didn’t mind too much. Rape wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to her. She had grown up in a war zone, after all. With the way she was at the moment, sexual assault was bound to happen. She’d probably die shortly afterward if her captor were smart in any way.

She didn’t want to die. She had to figure out a way to escape, and in order to do that, she needed to recollect how she had arrived and find any clues she could to use against her captor.

She began to think back to the day after she launched the terrorist attack on the school.

_“This god damn dress… To hell with it!” Yamuraiha hissed as she stripped off the frilly pink abomination she had been wearing for days, leaving her in her underwear._

_It was fine, she figured. With her escape diary in hand, she could avoid any interactions she might possibly have, which was a good thing, considering how many cops were patrolling the entire city._

_No one could get in or out of the city limits without a license check, the same went for passing any major intersection._

_Suspicious cars were being searched, people were questioned, and her chances of finding a safe place to hide were severely limited._

_Yamuraiha checked her phone for the best route to take. She figured she’d hide out in some abandoned building so she could work through the pain pulsating through her unsalvageable eye._

**21:18 [Back Alleyway, North Yusube St.]**

**Two police officers approaching from the right near the front gate. Backtrack and take a left, slip through third window of nearby apartment building. No one is home, window is unlocked. Wait 5 minutes.**

_It was satisfying to see just how specific and organized her diary was. It was just short of perfect._

_Yamuraiha quietly retraced her steps, then followed the directions her diary gave her._

_She didn’t hear the noise of her diary’s future changing over the rain as she crept to the window mentioned in her diary._

_Just before she could crawl to safety, a rag doused with a strong-smelling liquid was placed firmly over her mouth._

_Though she struggled and fought, she couldn’t break away from the hand which held the rag in place. The world faded to black and she collapsed into warm arms._

_She woke the next day in a warm bed, still in her underwear. She was not bound, nor was she gagged, and a bottle of painkillers and a glass of water rested beside her. Her phone rested on the edge of the desk in front of the two items. She was in a very nice, clean room that she felt out of place in._

_She shot up in bed, only for the pain in her eye to cripple her into lying back down._

_Yamuriaha didn’t know whether or not to trust the pills next to her, so she took her phone off the edge and checked it for any entries that might show her it was a bad idea to take them._

_She found none, so she reached for the bottle and poured a few of the painkillers into her hand, then popped them into her mouth. She lifted her head a little and took the glass of water, then drank it liberally._

_Moments after she set the glass of water back down on the desk, a person walked into the room. They wore a paper bag over their head, as though they felt the need to hide his face._

_It didn’t matter. She would find out who this person was soon enough._

_The man pulled up a chair from beside the desk and sat near her bedside. “I trust you slept well?” came a male voice._

_“What the hell did you do to me?” Yamuraiha snarled. She looked at her phone, but there were no updates. Was she safe?_

_“I brought you to safety,” the man said. “I’m sorry about the chloroform. I just didn’t want a struggle, and if I know you, Ninth, you are the queen of struggles.”_

_Yamuriaha began to feel dizzy. How did he know about her number? “Are you a diary user?” she asked quietly. Her body felt weak. She couldn’t move. Something was happening that was out of her control.  She looked back to her phone. Still no updates. “What have you done to me?”_

_The man chuckled softly. “You will know who I am once I get you somewhere you can’t fight back,” he said._

_How was her phone still not showing anything?! Yamuraiha gripped it as tightly as she could. The useless thing! This man was obviously out to hurt her!_

_“What did you put in those painkillers?!” Yamuraiha snapped._

_“Something to calm you down,” the man explained. “It works a bit slower than the chloroform, but the effects are longer-lasting. I figured it was the most effective way of incapacitating you for the time being.”_

_Yamuriaha was seething with anger. How dare he?! What was even going on?!_

_“I see you are confused,” the man said. “Shall I make things clearer for you?”_

_Out of spite, Yamuraiha kept her mouth shut._

_The man chuckled softly. “When I snap my fingers, you will be fully awake.”_

_Fully awake? What the hell did that eve mean?!_

_The man snapped his fingers, and the illusion of the nice bedroom around her immediately dissipated._

_Instead of a nice, comfortable room with a decent bed, she was in a torn up, trashed, disgusting, abandoned room and she was lying on a filthy cot with several holes where springs stuck out of it._

_Her phone was no longer in her hand, and the bottle of pills was not the same as it used to be. Instead of a phone, she held a small square of wood, and instead of painkillers, the pills she had taken were high-grade sleeping pills which she had taken at least five of._

_The only thing that had been real was the glass of water she had drunk._

_She looked back at her captor, her vision had begun to blur and she could no longer focus as well as she normally could, but instead of a plastic bag, the man wore some sort of bulbous mask with markings that made it look like a giant eyeball, and he wore all black for clothing._

_That was all she remembered before everything went black, and she woke up in the dungeon, completely naked._


	18. Twelfth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaos breaks out in the shrine while Sinbad is guarding Kougyoku. Another diary user is behind it all.

_Sin… Doesn’t trust me anymore…_ Ja’far thought. He felt dizzy and weak. The person he loved most hated his guts. _It’s all that bitch’s fault._

Ja’far growled and looked around. He found a hatchet on the ground, held between the hands of a dead man. He pried the weapon out of the body’s grip and cast an evil look at the cage where Sinbad and Kougyoku resided.

_I’ll show her what happens when someone fucks with Sin’s head._

He made his way to the door and stepped inside.

Sinbad’s head turned to him. His eyes widened when he saw the weapon the younger man held. “Ah, Ja’far…” he said. “Why don’t you wait outside for a few moments? Kougyoku here is trying to find our enemy.”

Ja’far licked his lips. He could go against Sinbad’s wishes and kill Kougyoku anyway… but the information on the other enemy might be useful.

That settled it. Kougyoku would get to live a few moments longer.

“Don’t take too long,” Ja’far said with a pleasant smile before he stepped back out.

 _Ja’far with a weapon isn’t something good,_ Sinbad thought fearfully. He looked to Kougyoku, who was searching through her diary with a magnifying glass.

“Here,” Kougyoku said. She pointed to a small entry.

**Side Entrance- Suspicious person spotted near the flowerbed.**

“My diary has the entries of the viewings and actions of over a thousand acolytes,” Kougyoku said proudly. “Nothing is out of my sight.”

Sinbad looked over her shoulder and read a few of the entries. “There’s one a few entries to the right, as well,” he said as he pointed out the entry.

**Front Entrance- Suspicious person spotted near the gates.**

“There’s more than one?” Kougyoku asked. “That’s odd…”

The scroll’s writings began to blur, then completely changed until all the entries held some sort of information on a suspicious person in every area of the shrine.

“Are the followers seeing hallucinations from the hypnosis?” Sinbad asked.

“If that’s what’s happening, we have no way of learning the enemy’s whereabouts or actions,” Kougyoku said nervously.

* * *

“How’s your eye, Ninth?”

“Hurts like hell. Thanks for the treatment,” Yamuraiha responded blandly. How long had she been holed up in the prison? It couldn’t have been over a day. At least her captor hadn’t tried to rape her.

“Good, good,” the man said. “I’m supposing that you’d like to know exactly who I am, correct?”

Yamuraiha nodded. The guy had taken off his ridiculous mask, but she still couldn’t quite make out his features with what little light there was.

The man stood up proudly. “I am a diary user such as yourself!” he exclaimed happily. “I’m the Twelfth, also known as Mystras Leoxes, and my diary is known as the vigilante diary!”

“And you’re out to win, aren’t you?” Yamuraiha asked. She’d always suspected he was a diary user, so the revelation wasn’t much of a shock to her.

Mystras shrugged. “It’d be nice, I guess,” he said. “If I became God, I could rid the world of all evildoers. But… I won’t get to take part in much action from a throne up above, so don’t much care if I win or lose, so long as I can stop a bit of the evil in this world while I’m here, and look really cool while I’m doing it!”

What a dork. Yamuraiha couldn’t help smirk at him. “I see. Is that why you went after me, then?” she asked.

Mystras bobbed his head from side to side for a few moments, then shook his head. “No, actually. You were just a part of my plan to get an evildoer just as bad as you,” he said. “The priestess here isn’t what she seems to be. She’s a diary user, so of course, she’s after other users. I came in and offered to capture the other diary users for her so I could gain her trust. After getting you, I got to put my plan into action!”

Yamuraiha relaxed with a sigh. “It’s in action right now, isn’t it? Are you using hypnotism?” she asked.

“That’s right!” Mystras said with a thumbs-up. “I mass hypnotized all the servants and followers in the shrine! That’s what gonna lead the Lady Kougyoku to her end.”

“You’re not going to off her yourself?” Yamuraiha asked.

Mystras frowned and rubbed his hands together before he pressed them to his cheeks in irritation. “I wanted to, but there are officers crawling around now, and I don’t want to be disqualified from the game by being thrown into a jail cell to rot.”

Yamuraiha rolled her eyes.

“Hm?” Mystras perked up a little. He cupped his hand behind his ear. “It’s quieted down. That means Plan B is about to take place.”

 _What? It’s been deathly quiet down here the entire time, though…_ Yamuraiha thought with her brow furrowed in confusion.

“It seems as though First’s diary has an advantage over my own…” Mystras mumbled. “This is fun.”

“What do you mean by an advantage?” Yamuriaha asked. “I thought all the diaries were created equally.”

Mystras turned his head to her and gave her a look. “A smart woman like you should have been able to figure out that each diary has its disadvantages. You simply can’t have a perfect diary,” he said. “It’s kinda like “Rock, Paper, Scissors.” Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, paper beats rock. The same thing goes for the diaries, as in, the disadvantage for one diary might be ineffective or helpful to another diary. Simple as that.”

Mystras grinned. “Lucky for me, I was able to figure out Sixth’s weakness rather quickly,” he continued. “Her weakness is information overload.”

* * *

“We need to get out of here,” Sinbad told Kougyoku. “I promised I’d keep you safe, and you’re not safe here in the shrine.”

Kougyoku blushed. “If that is what you believe, then I will go with you,” she said softly.

Sinbad offered his hand to her, which she took. He then led the young woman out of the cage carefully.

“How considerate,” Ja’far said softly. “Get your hands off of him, you filthy wench.”

“Excuse me?” Kougyoku asked with an angry look.

“You heard me,” Ja’far growled. “You’re not who you’re trying to make yourself out to be. I’m onto you, bitch.”

“Ja’far, there’s no reason to act like this,” Sinbad told him. “We promised we’d get her out of here safely.”

“Correction, _you_ promised to get her out of here safely,” Ja’far pointed out. He looked back to Kougyoku. “No matter what actions are taken, you will die here tonight.”

“The _audacity-“_ Kougyoku started, but the rest of her words died on her tongue when both Sinbad and Ja’far’s phones screeched as the future was changed.

Sinbad checked his phone at once. His eyes widened when he saw the entries.

**18:38 [Main Room]**

**We’re surrounded by worshippers**

**18:40 [Main Room]**

**Killed by a worshipper ambush**

**DEAD END**

“Your Dead End was triggered, wasn’t it, Sin?” Ja’far asked, his face drained of color.

Sinbad nodded. “It looks like… I’ll be killed if we can’t find the source of the attack and avoid it,” he said softly.

Ja’far began to look around wildly. He spotted several bodies on the floor that looked somewhat different from the others, and a smile grew on his face. He lifted his hatchet and brought it down on one of the deceased’s skulls.

“Sin, we have to kill the corpses!” the boy said happily as blood spattered across his cheek.

Their phones screeched again, and Sinbad checked his to find a “Dead End Avoided” message on the screen.

“You’re a genius!” Sinbad praised as he picked up a hatchet and began to follow Ja’far’s lead.

* * *

Mystras gasped. “They’re smarter than I thought!” he said in awe. He stood up happily. “This is going to be fun. Transformation time!”

 _Transformation time?_ Yamuraiha thought. _Is he some sort of mythical creature?_

Mystras stripped off his clothes, leaving him in nothing but his boxers, and reached for a pile of neatly folded clothes.

“Ugh! You pervert!” Yamuraiha huffed as she looked away with a blush. Yeah, a monster was a little much to wish for, but she had expected _that_ over what he was currently doing.

“Transformation… Tights!” Mystras said happily as he pulled a pair of black tights over his legs. “Transformation… Shirt! Transformation… Shoes! Transformation… Gloves!”

 _He’s a weirdo. A complete crazy person. Why the hell, no, HOW the hell did I get captured by him?!_ Yamuraiha thought angrily.

He picked up a bulbous mask and put it over his head. “Transformation… Mask!” he shouted, then laughed happily and turned to Yamuraiha. “What do you think?”

“It’s… Terrifying,” Yamuraiha said, but Mystras didn’t seem to hear. He was a little too busy doing an excited dance near the doorway. “How do you even see through that?”

“One doesn’t need to see to instill justice!” Mystras said proudly.

Yamuraiha’s eyes widened. “Are you… blind?”

“Bingo~!” Mystras laughed. “Grand prize!”

Yamuraiha sighed. She didn’t know if he was serious or enthusiastically sarcastic. Either way, it was annoying.

Mystras picked up his tape recorder and listened to something the girl couldn’t here. “Oh…” he mumbled after setting it back down.

“What is it?”

“It seems as though my final plan is also my final moment,” Mystras said. He tossed a ring of keys to Yamuraiha. “You can go. I was never after you in the first place.”

“Why are you going if you’re going to die?” Yamuraiha asked. He was a lunatic!

“Dead ends are hard to avoid. I had a dead end in this room, too, and so I tried to change it… but doing that only brought my end closer,” Mystras said. He sighed. “If I’m going out, I’m taking Sixth with me, though.”

Yamuraiha sighed. Mystras seemed to want to put up a noble farce, but she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

“Anyway, I’m stealing our explosives. I need them,” Mystras said as he grabbed a bag from against the wall. “Your clothes and phone are on the desk here. I’m not taking it, so find a good place for it once you’re out. Ciao!”

With that, Mystras left the room.

Yamuraiha watched him go in shock. He was giving up his life so easily, and what a shame that was.

He would have been fun to play against once she got out of her chains.


End file.
